chronicle
Americannoun
-
chronicles
plural
verb (used with object)
-
chronicles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chronicled,
past participle, past
-
chronicling
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chroniclesimple
-
chroniclessimple
-
have chronicledperfect
-
has chronicledperfect
-
am chroniclingprogressive
-
are chroniclingprogressive
-
is chroniclingprogressive
-
have been chroniclingperfect progressive
-
has been chroniclingperfect progressive
Past
-
chronicledsimple
-
had chronicledperfect
-
was chroniclingprogressive
-
were chroniclingprogressive
-
had been chroniclingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chronicle
1275–1325; Middle English cronicle < Anglo-French, variant, with -le -ule, of Old French cronique < Medieval Latin cronica (feminine singular), Latin chronica (neuter plural) < Greek chroniká annals, chronology; see chronic
Explanation
To chronicle an event is to record it as it happens, and a chronicle is a record of those events. If your grandmother took the time to chronicle the details of her 1910 journey to Japan, you can read her chronicle today. To chronicle something is to describe past or current events. Chronicle is related to chronological and comes from the Greek ta khronika, which means “annals of time.” Events are usually chronicled in the order in which they occurred. The noun chronicle is a record of things that happened — told in chronological order, like the diary you kept in elementary school. It is a chronicle of those years.
Vocabulary lists containing chronicle
It's About Time: Chron and Temp
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"The Gift of the Magi"
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The Skin I'm In
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The event was preserved in the "Spring and Autumn Annals," a historical chronicle compiled approximately 200 to 300 years later.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
It constitutes a harrowing chapter in “Serling,” a biography by Alan Sepinwall that mixes a cradle-to-grave chronicle with smart observation and analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
News helicopters are a vital part of news gathering in Southern California, helping chronicle brush fires, mass shootings and, of course, police pursuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
In this monthly Retirement Rookies column, the 69-year-olds chronicle some of the issues they are dealing with early in retirement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
There is no prophet in the earth’s long chronicle who’s not honored here today.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Joe Barrett chronicles Stafford’s unraveling and the growing peril of digital love traps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Mr. Coyne’s book, the inspiration for the show, chronicles his roughly 16-week hike around the perimeter of the country, playing its dozens of links as if they were a single, 1,100-mile golf course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
In her new memoir, “Famesick,” Dunham chronicles her struggles with debilitating illness over six seasons of her hit HBO show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
In Rent, Matarazzo plays struggling film-maker Mark, who chronicles and narrates the lives of his friends.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
This was to become a recurring scene in the Leep family chronicles.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
As ecologist Doug Tallamy has chronicled, over 90% of herbivorous insects specialize on one or a few native plant lineages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Holmes was convicted of defrauding investors in her medical testing company Theranos, fuelling a media circus that has been chronicled in books, podcasts and the mini-series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
The scandal fueled a media circus and was chronicled in a book, multiple podcasts, and the biographical mini-series "The Dropout" that starred Amanda Seyfried.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Many recent revolutionary inventions have been almost accidental, Cole found as he chronicled the tales of companies like Novo Nordisk and Google.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
These initial moves and “lines” follow well-charted paths that have been chronicled for centuries, and players who want to improve their game attempt to understand and memorize them.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
She’s done dozens of interviews chronicling an industry that rose to prominence in the 1970s and grew on subsidies designed to promote it as renewable energy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
To make sense of these claims, I reached out to Zeke Faux, the author of Number Go Up and a journalist who has been chronicling Bitcoin’s rise and fall and rise for years.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
It was restarted from scratch in 2013 with a new trilogy dubbed "Survivor", chronicling the adventures of a younger, less experienced Lara.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Oregon’s Cascade Policy Institute provides an eye-opening brief chronicling Portland’s failed “war on the automobile.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
As his subjects grew older, Terman issued updates on their progress, chronicling their extraordinary achievements.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
