hagiography

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 25, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>hagiography</strong> &#149; \hag-ee-AH-gruh-fee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> biography of saints or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venerate">venerated</a> persons</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> idealizing or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idolize">idolizing</a> biography</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Music documentaries can veer into <em>hagiography</em>. That's not this story. It goes up and down, with constant left turns and surprises you don't expect." — Edgar Wright, quoted in <em>The Houston Chronicle</em>, 16 June 2021</p> <p>"<em>Hemingway</em>, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's latest PBS series, is a <em>hagiography</em> of one of the most popular writers of the 20th century, the tale of a man whose writing, image, and life were regularly the stuff of gossip, jealousy, admiration, and legend" — Hrag Vartanian, <em>Hyperallergic</em>, 15 Apr. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Like <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biography">biography</a></em> and <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autograph">autograph</a></em>, the word <em>hagiography</em> has to do with the written word. The combining form <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-graphy">-<em>graphy</em></a> comes from Greek <em>graphein,</em> meaning "to write." <em>Hagio</em>- comes from a Greek word that means "saintly" or "holy." This origin is seen in <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hagiographa">Hagiographa</a></em>, the Greek designation of the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ketuvim">Ketuvim</a>, the third part of the Jewish Scriptures. English's <em>hagiography,</em> though it can refer to biography of actual saints, i