history
noun
- past events and their record
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈhɪs.tə.ɹi/ / /ˈhɪs.tɹi/ / /ˈhɪst͡ʃ(ə)ɹɪj/
noun
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.
- The aggregate of past events, both unrecorded and recorded.
“The history of mammals stretches back many millions of years.”
“History repeats itself if we don’t learn from its mistakes.”
- The empirical study of past events, as distinct from literature, myth, or scripture; the assessment of notable events.
“He teaches Latin American history at the university and publishes books about the Cold War.”
“History and experience act as a filter that can distort as much as elucidate. It is largely forgotten now, overlooked in the one-line description of Tony Blair and George W Bush as the men who lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, but there was a wider context to their conviction.”
- 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.
“Near-synonym: ages”
“in all of human history and prehistory”
- A set of events involving an entity.
“a long and sordid history”
“What is your medical history?”
- A record or narrative description of past events.
“I really enjoyed Shakespeare's tragedies more than his histories.”
“a short history of post-Columbian colonization”
- A list of past and continuing medical conditions of an individual or family.
“A personal medical history is required for the insurance policy.”
“He has a history of cancer in his family.”
- A record of previous user events, especially of visited web pages in a browser.
“I visited a great site yesterday but forgot the URL. Luckily, I didn't clear my history.”
“When you do that, the browser window has no browser history, so it doesn't report a referrer page to the first site you visit.”
- Something that no longer exists or is no longer relevant.
“I told him that if he doesn't get his act together, he's history.”
- Shared experience or interaction.
“There is too much history between them for them to split up now.”
“He has had a lot of history with the police.”
- A historically significant event.
“You are witnessing history!”
“We have a new president: Barack Obama. I never thought a black man would be elected. It's exciting! It's history!”
verb
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.
- To narrate or record.
“And therefore will hee wipe his Tables cleane, And keepe no Tell-tale to his Memorie, That may repeat, and Historie his losse”