What does hagiology mean?
Hagiology is the study of the lives, writings, and veneration of the saints, as well as the collective literature about them. The word is especially associated with Christian scholarship and religious history, where hagiology examines how saints were remembered, described, and regarded as models of faith. In some contexts, it refers not merely to the discipline but to a collection of stories about holy figures. A hagiography is usually a biography of a particular saint, while hagiology is the broader field or body of material. The term is formal and specialized, and modern scholars may examine hagiology for what it reveals about religious communities, social values, literary conventions, and the construction of sanctity. Its Greek roots combine a term for “holy” with a word meaning “to write,” reflecting its close connection with sacred biography.
nounThe study of the lives, writings, and veneration of the saints, or a collection of accounts of their lives. The term is also used more broadly for the body of literature concerned with saints.
- The scholarly study of the lives, writings, and veneration of the saints.
- A collection or body of accounts concerning the lives of saints.
"Her research in early medieval monasteries produced an extensive hagiology of the desert fathers."
"The seminar examined how changing religious concerns shaped medieval hagiology."
"The monastery library contains an important hagiology preserving the stories of several local saints."
The plural is used for separate studies or collections concerning the saints.
"The library holds two extensive hagiologies, one on eastern and one on western Christian traditions."
Hagiology literally means “holy writing”: it is the study of the stories and traditions that made saints famous.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hagiology come from?
Hagiology comes from Greek hagiographia, a compound of hagios, meaning “holy,” and graphein, meaning “to write.” In English, the word developed to mean both the study of the saints and a collection of their lives. It is closely related to hagiography, hagiographer, and the adjective hagiographical.
Related word forms
How hagiology is actually used
This is primarily a formal religious-studies term. It can refer either to the academic discipline or to a corpus of saintly literature. The related word hagiography often emphasizes an individual biography and may carry an implication of reverential or idealized treatment.
Easily confused with hagiology
Hagiology is the scholarly study or collected body of material about saints, whereas a hagiography is a biography of one or more saints.