English Explanatory Dictionary

history

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The aggregate of past events, both unrecorded and recorded.
  2. The empirical study of past events, as distinct from literature, myth, or scripture; the assessment of notable events.
  3. The portion of the past that is known and recorded by this field of study, as opposed to all earlier and unknown times that preceded it.
  4. A set of events involving an entity.
  5. A record or narrative description of past events.
  6. A list of past and continuing medical conditions of an individual or family.
  7. A record of previous user events, especially of visited web pages in a browser.
  8. Something that no longer exists or is no longer relevant.
  9. Shared experience or interaction.
  10. A historically significant event.
verb
  1. To narrate or record.

Pronunciation

hĭsʹt(ə)rē /ˈhɪs.tə.ɹi/ /ˈhɪs.tɹi/ /ˈhɪst͡ʃ(ə)ɹɪj/ /ˈhɪst(ə)ɹɪj/ en-uk-history.ogg en-us-history.ogg /ˈhəs.tə.ɹi/ /ˈhəs.tɹi/

Word forms

history histories Hx historie hystory hystorie historying historied

Etymology

From Middle English historie, from Old French estoire, estorie (“chronicle, history, story”) (French histoire), from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ἱστορίᾱ (historíā, “learning through research”), from ἱστορέω (historéō, “to research, inquire (and) record”), from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “the knowing, wise one”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Doublet of story and storey. Attested in Middle English in 1393 by John Gower, Confessio Amantis, which was aimed at an educated audience familiar with French and Latin.

Synonyms

past ages background account chronicle story tale medical history log

Related words

historiaster

Derived words

allohistory alternate history alternative history althistory ancient history anthrohistory antihistoricist antihistoricism antihistory arc of history art history ashcan of history ash heap of history astrohistory back history big history biohistory call history case history computation history counterhistory credit history deep history dustbin of history dust heap of history ecohistory employment history end of history end-of-history illusion ethnohistory family history future history garbage heap of history geohistory germ history go down in history herstory historian historic historical historically historicide historied historify historiography historiology historize history book history books historybounding history is written by the victors historyless historylike historymaker history of ideas history of the four kings history painting history repeats itself history sheet history-sheeter
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