-graphy
(Redirected from -ography)
| Suffixes |
| -archy |
| -Biology suffixes |
| -cide |
| -cracy |
| -cycle |
| -gate |
| -genesis |
| -hood |
| -ic |
| -illion |
| -ism |
| -ist |
| -kinesis |
| -mania |
| -nik |
| -graphy |
| -oid |
| -logy |
| -ome |
| -omics |
| -nomy |
| -onym |
| -ous |
| -phil- |
| -phob- |
| -phone |
| -polis |
| -scope |
| -stan |
| -ville |
| -ware |
-graphy or -ography or -igraphy (etc.) is an English suffix derived from the Greek verb γραφειν (graphein), "to write", plus the abstract noun suffix -ia in Greek, which passed through Latin, then French, before becoming English -y.
In other contexts, -ography is not a suffix but an informal word (noun form -graphic) denoting a field of study or academic discipline ending in the noun combining form -ography. The word ography is therefore a back-formation from the names of these disciplines. The word ography is thus misleading, as the <o> is actually part of the Greek root that receives the -graphy ending. For example, the bio- root of biography stems from Greek βιος (bio s), life. This is why some of the words listed below do not end in -ography (such as calligraphy).
In many words ending in -graphy, the reference is to writing rather than to a field of study. In some, such as cartography, both meanings are arguably present.
Some non-study ographies are the following:
- Autobiography, the biography of a person written by that person
- Bibliography, a list of writings used or considered by an author in preparing a particular work
- Biography, an account of a person's life
- Calligraphy, the art of fine handwriting
- Choreography, the art of creating and arranging dances or ballets
- Cryptography, the art of hiding the content of information
- Floriography, the language of flowers
- Orthography, rules of correct writing
- Photography, the art, practice, or occupation of taking and printing photographs
- Steganography, the art of writing hidden messages
- Stenography, the art of writing in shorthand
- Tasseography, the art of reading tea leaves
- Xerography, a means of copying documents
Some study-related ographies are the following:
- Areography, the study of the physical features of the planet Mars
- Cartography, the study and making of maps
- Demography, the study of the characteristics of human populations, such as size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics
- Geography, the study of spatial relationships on the Earth's surface
- Hagiography, the study of saints
- Historiography, the study of the study of history
- Oceanography, the exploration and scientific study of the ocean and its phenomena
- Orography, the science and study of mountains
- Reprography
- Selenography, the study and mapping of the physical features of the Moon
- Uranography, the study and mapping of stars and space objects
Categories
Suffixes | Latin suffixes