The English suffix -graphy denotes either a field of study or a manner of writing or representation. It derives from the French , which in turn comes from the Latin , itself a transliteration of the Greek ().

Because -graphy begins with a consonant, it is usually joined to a combining form that provides the linking vowel (e.g. photo- + -graphy). This follows the pattern of neo-classical word formation, in which new English words are built from Greek and Latin elements in imitation of Greek compound and derivative structures.

Arts and communication

Biography – an account of a person's life

Autobiography – biography of a person written by themselves

• Autobiogeography – a self-referential map or other geographic document created by the subject

• Hagiography – biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader

• Metabiography – the study of how biographies are shaped by the temporal, geographical, institutional, intellectual, and ideological contexts of their authors

• Photobiography – biography told primarily through photographs, often accompanied by brief textual commentary

• Psychobiography – biographical study that interprets a subject's life and behavior through psychological theory or analysis

• Choreography – the art of creating and arranging dances or ballets.

• Cinematography – the art of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema

• Floriography – the language of flowers

• Iconography – the art of interpreting the content by icons.

• Klecksography – the art of making images from inkblots.

• Lexicography – the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries.

Photography – the art, practice or occupation of taking and printing photographs.

• Astrophotography – the photography or imaging of astronomical objects

• Chronophotography – the photographic technique which captures a number of phases of movements

• Heliography – an early photographic process, based on the hardening of bitumen in sunlight

• Rephotography – the act of photographing the same site twice, with a time lag between the two images

• Telephotography – the sending of photographs by telegraph, telephone or radio

• Pornography – the practice, occupation and result of producing sexually arousing imagery or words.

• Pyrography – the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks

• Reprography – the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means

• Scenography – the art of theatrical design and stage scenery

• Tasseography – a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves

• Telegraphy – the long-distance transmission of messages

• Typography – the art and techniques of type design.

• Videography – the art and techniques of filming video.

• Vitrography – a method of using laser beams to create three-dimensional images or designs inside solid glass

Printing

• Cerography – a printmaking technique using a layer of wax over a metal substrate

• Collagraphy – In printmaking, a fine art technique in which collage materials are used as ink-carrying imagery on a printing plate.

• Flexography – a printing process using a flexible relief plate

• Geomontography – a printing method, used primarily for the production of maps

• Hectography – a duplicating process using gelatin plates

Lithography – a planographic printing technique

• Chromolithography – a method for making multi-colour prints in lithography

• Photolithography – the method for microfabrication in electronics manufacturing.

• Mimeography – a duplicating process using stencils

• Serigraphy – a printmaking technique that uses a stencil made of fine synthetic material through which ink is forced

• Vitreography – in printmaking, a fine art technique that uses glass printing matrices

• Xerography – the means of copying documents

• Zincography – a planographic printing process that used zinc plates

Writing

• Cacography – bad handwriting or spelling

• Calligraphy – the art of fine handwriting

• Chorography – the art of describing or mapping a region or district

• Dittography – accidental repetition of letters or words when copying text

• Garshunography – the use of the script of one language to write utterances of another language which already has a script associated with it; also known as allography or heterography

• Haplography – accidental omission of repeated letters when writing

• Ideography – the use of symbols to represent a concept or idea.

• Orthography – the rules of correct writing.

• Palaeography – the study of historical handwriting

• Phonography – representation of sounds by written symbols; also known as Pitman shorthand

• Pictography – the use of pictographs

• Pseudepigraphy – falsely attributed writings

• Psychography – a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing

• Steganography – the art of writing hidden messages

• Stenography – the art of writing in shorthand.

Archival and compilatory lists

Bibliography – a list of writings, typically those used or considered by an author in preparing a particular work or research.

• Metabibliography – bibliography of bibliographies.

• Discography – a list of recorded music, or other sound recordings/auditory media.

• Filmography – a list of films, documentaries, or other visual media.

• Ludography (or gameography) – a list of games, specifically video games.

• Webography (also known as webliography or arachniography) – a list of websites, or URLs

Fields of study

• Ampelography – the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines

• Cartography – the study and making of maps.

Chromatography – a chemical laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture

• Electrochromatography

• Cryptography – the study of securing information

• Crystallography – the study of crystals

• Dactylography – the study of fingerprints for identification

• Demography – the study of the characteristics of human populations, such as size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics

• Epigraphy – the study of written inscriptions on hard surfaces.

• Ethnography – the study of cultures and cultural phenomena.

Geography – study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth.

• Anthropogeography – study of human society's interactions and relationships with the environment.

• Biogeography – study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time

• Oceanography – exploration and scientific study of the ocean and its phenomena.

• Orography – the study of mountains.

• Physiography – study of the processes and patterns in the Earth's environment.

Stratigraphy — a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification)

• Lithostratigraphy — a sub-discipline of stratigraphy

• Stratigraphy (archaeology) — study of archaeological sedimentation for dating purposes

• Historiography – study of the methods of historians

• Holography – a technique for recording and reconstructing wavefronts, best known for generating three-dimensional images (holograms)

• Hydrography – measurement and description of any waters.

• Keraunography – the belief that lightning, when striking an object, can leave markings which constitute a photographic image of surrounding objects

• Monography – the study of a single specialized subject of the aspect of a subject.

• Pathography – study of the history of an individual or community with regard to the influence of a physical or mental condition.

• Polarography – a type of voltammetry

• Reprography – reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means.

• Topography – the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those of planets, moons and asteroids.

• Zoography – the study of animal description and their habits; descriptive zoology.

Astronomy

• Areography – the study and mapping of the physical features of the planet Mars

• Cosmography – the study and making of maps of the universe or cosmos

• Selenography – the study and mapping of the physical features of the Moon

• Uranography – the study and mapping of stars and space objects

Imaging techniques

Radiography – an imaging technique that uses X-rays, other ionizing radiation, or non-ionizing radiation to visualize the internal structure of an object

• Autoradiography – a photographic record of radiation from a radioactive source made by placing it close to a photographic emulsion

• Thermography – a technique that records infrared radiation emitted from an object's surface to generate a temperature distribution image

• Tomography – three-dimensional imaging

Medical tests

• Angiography – a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, particularly the arteries and the heart chambers

• Cholangiography – imaging of bile ducts

• Electroencephalography – recording of voltages from the brain

• Electromyography – a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles

• Mammography – an x-ray method used to examine the breast for detection of early-stage cancer and other diseases.

• Urography – an examination with an x-ray to evaluate the kidneys, ureters and bladder.

• Venography – a test that uses an x-ray moving pictures of blood in the veins of the legs and pelvis.

• Ultrasonography – a test that uses energy sound waves to observe tissues and organs.

See also

• -ism

• -ology

• -logy

• List of words with the suffix -ology

References

Further reading