Hagiography [hægi'ɒgrəfi] is the stuy of saints. A hagiography refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically the biographies of ecclesiastical and secular leaders. The word comes from Greek (h)ağios (ἅγιος, "holy" or "saint") and graphē (γραφή, "writing"). The term hagiology is also current in English, though less common. (This in fact follows original Greek practice, where ἁγιογραφία refers to visual images of the saints, while their written lives (βίοι or vitæ) or the study thereof are known as ἁγιολογία.)