biography

/baɪˈɒɡɹəfi/

//baɪˈɒɡɹəfi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"biography" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“biography” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,392. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,392
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person's life story, especially one published.

Corpus desk

Index EN-biography · biography · English

biography · rank #8,392 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,392
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH br

Nearest frequency peer: br (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “biography”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “biography” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

biography vs biographer
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for biography
PropertyValue
Headwordbiography
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/baɪˈɒɡɹəfi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#8,392
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “biography”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).biographylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “br” (#8,393), “broker” (#8,394), “bastard” (#8,389). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “biography” is #8,392. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around biography (IPA /baɪˈɒɡɹəfi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,392 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for biography, with forms such as "bbiography", "bigoraphy", and "biogarphy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "biographer", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin biographia, formed from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”). The correct English form is biography, spelled B-I-O-G-R-A-P-H-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person's life story, especially one published.
  2. 2
    The art of writing this kind of story.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how biography appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. There are many biographies of Benjamin Franklin.

Etymology

From New Latin biographia, formed from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).

This word in other languages

biografía(Español)biographie(Français)Biografie(Deutsch)biografia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbiography
  • bigoraphy
  • biogarphy
  • bioggraphy
  • biograhpy
  • biographhy
  • biographyy
  • biograpphy
  • biograpyh
  • biogrpahy
  • biogrraphy
  • biorgaphy
  • boigraphy
  • ibography

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of biography - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbiography1bigoraphy2biogarphy2bioggraphy1biograhpy2biographhy1biographyy1biograpphy1
Edit distance from "biography"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "biography"?
"biography" is spelled B-I-O-G-R-A-P-H-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /baɪˈɒɡɹəfi/.
What does "biography" mean?
As a noun, "biography" means: A person's life story, especially one published.
What words are commonly confused with "biography"?
"biography" is commonly confused with "biographer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "biography"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "biography" is /baɪˈɒɡɹəfi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "biography"?
From New Latin biographia, formed from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "biography", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

consuming#8,401withdrawn#8,380designing#8,409economies#8,415

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

sensation14 variantsIndonesian14 variantsrejection14 variantsmortality14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list