bibliography

noun

bib·​li·​og·​ra·​phy ˌbi-blē-ˈä-grə-fē 

plural bibliographies

1

: the history, identification, or description of writings or publications

2

a

: a list often with descriptive or critical notes of writings relating to a particular subject, period, or author

a bibliography of modern poetry

b

: a list of works written by an author or printed by a publishing house

compiled a complete bibliography of John Donne

3

: the works or a list of the works referred to in a text or consulted by the author in its production

The book's bibliography contains over 400 items.

bibliographic

ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈgra-fik 

adjective

or less commonly bibliographical

ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈgra-fi-kəl 

bibliographically

ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈgra-fi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of bibliography in a Sentence

The instructor provided the students with an excellent bibliography on local history.

The book includes a lengthy bibliography.

Recent Examples on the Web

Far Eastern War, 1937-1941 A reliable and serviceable review of events in China from July 1937 to December 1941, with maps, documentary appendices and bibliography. —Harold S. Quigley, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2024

That column led to an assignment from the Handbook of Texas Online for a more detailed profile and a bibliography. —Hollace Ava Weiner, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 July 2024

Google Scholar is likely to mostly rely on the article’s main text to extract the references appearing in the bibliography section, whereas Crossref and Dimensions use metadata provided by publishers. —Lonni Besançon, Discover Magazine, 11 July 2024

The subtitle is a major exaggeration: Little in this book is new or untold, as is evident from Crawford’s nine-page bibliography. —Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 4 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably from New Latin bibliographia, from Greek, the copying of books, from bibli- + -graphia -graphy

First Known Use

1689, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bibliography

noun

bib·​li·​og·​ra·​phy ˌbib-lē-ˈäg-rə-fē 

plural bibliographies

: a list of writings about a subject or author or by an author

bibliographic

ˌbib-lē-ə-ˈgraf-ik 

adjective

or bibliographical

-ˈgraf-i-kəl