ancient history

noun

1. the study or a course of study of history before the end of the Western Roman Empire a.d. 476.

2. information or an event of the recent past that is common knowledge or is no longer pertinent.

   Last week's news is ancient history.

3. an event, as in a person's life, that occurred in the remote past and has no practical relationship with the present.

   She was my best friend in high school, but that's ancient history now.

ancient history

noun

1. the history of the ancient world from the earliest known civilizations to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 _a.d

2. informal,  a recent event or fact sufficiently familiar to have lost its pertinence

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancient history¹

First recorded in 1585–95

Idioms and Phrases

A past event, as in She's talking about her sea voyage, but that's ancient history, or And then there was his divorce, but you don't want to hear ancient history. This hyperbolic idiom transfers the field of ancient history to a much-repeated tale.

Example Sentences

But the delayed retail-sales report, expected on Nov. 25, will cover September, which now seems like “ancient history,” said Kelly.

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World War One seemed like ancient history in my childhood imagination, even though I was born only 40 years after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

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The implications of these findings extend far beyond understanding ancient history.

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Queensland state education minister John-Paul Langbroek said the mishap was anything but ancient history for at least 140 traumatised students across nine schools.

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The young socialist has tried to downplay his previous hostility to police, but this isn’t ancient history.

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