'autobiographist' originates from Modern English, specifically formed from the word 'autobiography' with the suffix '-ist', where 'auto-' meant 'self', 'bios' (Greek) meant 'life', and 'graphein' (Greek) meant 'to write'.

'autobiographist' developed from the Modern English formation 'autobiography' + '-ist'. 'Autobiography' itself came into English via Medieval Latin and French from Greek 'autobiographia' (auto- + biographia), and the agentive '-ist' was then attached to form 'autobiographist'.

Initially it referred simply to the writer of an 'autobiography' (a self-written life account); this basic meaning has remained stable and continues to denote a person who writes their own life story.