Link Centre Dictionary

history

his·tory

UK/ˈhɪst͡ʃ(ə)ɹɪj/ US/ˈhɪs.tə.ɹi/ very common informal

noun

1.

the aggregate of past events

  • “a critical time in the school”
2.

the continuum of events occurring in succession leading from the past to the present and even into the future

  • “all of human history”
3.

a record or narrative description of past events

  • “a history of France”
  • “he gave an inaccurate account of the plot to kill the president”
  • “the story of exposure to lead”
Synonyms
4.

the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings

  • “he teaches Medieval history”
  • “history takes the long view”
5.

all that is remembered of the past as preserved in writing; a body of knowledge

  • “the dawn of recorded history”
  • “from the beginning of history”

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • alternate history
  • alternative history
  • ancient history
  • arc of history
  • art history
  • ash heap of history
  • ashcan of history
  • back history

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.