History

Pronunciation

• enPR: hÄ­stōrÄ“, IPA: /ˈhɪstÉ™ri/, /ˈhɪstri/
• Hyphenation: hist + o + ry

Alternative forms

• historie obsolete
• hystory nonstandard
• hystorie obsolete

Origin

From Middle English, from Old French estoire, estorie ("chronicle, history, story") (French histoire), from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historia, "learning through research, narration of what is learned"), from ἱστορέω (historeō, "to learn through research, to inquire"), from ἵστωρ (histōr, "the one who knows, the expert"), from *ϝίδτωρ, from Proto-Indo-European *wid- ("wit, knowledge"). Compare story.

Attested in Middle English in 1393 by John Gower, Confessio Amantis,

OED

which was aimed at an educated audience familiar with French and Latin.

Noun

1. The aggregate of past events.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 7, With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.
• 2012, Jan Sapp, Race Finished, Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?
2. History repeats itself if we don’t learn from its mistakes.
3. The branch of knowledge that studies the past; the assessment of notable events.
• 2013-09-06, Peter Beaumont, Lessons of past cast shadows over Syria, 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.
4. He teaches history at the university.   History will not look kindly on these tyrants.   He dreams of an invention that will make history.
5. A set of events involving an entity.
   What is your medical history?
6. A record or narrative description of past events.
7. (medicine)   The 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.
8. (computing) 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.
9. (informal) 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.

Synonyms

• (aggregate of past events) background, past
• (record or narrative description of past events) account, chronicle, story, tale
• (medicine: list of past and continuing medical conditions) medical history
• (computing: record of previous user events) log

Derived terms

Full definition of history

Verb

1. (obsolete) To narrate or record.