"the art of writing history," 1560s, from historio- (see historico-) + -graphy. Related: Historiographer (1530s); historiographic.
Entries linking to historiography
historico-
word-forming element meaning "historical," from Latinized form of Greek historikos "historical" (see historical). Modern combinations sometimes use historio-.
-graphy
word-forming element meaning "process of writing or recording" or "a writing, recording, or description" (in modern use especially in forming names of descriptive sciences), from French or German -graphie, from Greek -graphia "description of," used in abstract nouns from graphein "write, express by written characters," earlier "to draw, represent by lines drawn," originally "to scrape, scratch" (on clay tablets with a stylus), from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch, carve" (see carve).