hagiography

the word 'hagiography' is a direct borrowing from medieval latin 'hagiographia', which itself originates from greek components. the greek 'hagios' means 'holy' or 'saintly', and '-graphia' denotes the act or study of writing. in a christian ecclesiastical context, it specifically referred to the writing of accounts of saints' lives and martyrdoms, which were often idealized and devotional in nature. this literal sense of 'writing about the holy' evolved semantically to acquire its modern, sometimes critical, meaning: any biography that is uncritically admiring and reverential, treating its subject as if saintly.

Structure: hagio (holy) + graphy (writing) hagio: from greek 'hagios', meaning 'holy' or 'saintly'. it functions as a combining form denoting sacredness. graphy: from greek '-graphia', meaning 'writing' or 'description'. it functions as a suffix denoting a field or process of writing.