annals

American  

[an-lz] / ˈæn lz /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. a record of events, especially a yearly record, usually in chronological order.

   Synonyms:

   history, chronicles

2. historical records generally.

   the annals of war.

   Synonyms:

   history, chronicles

3. a periodical publication containing the formal reports of an organization or learned field.

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annals British  

/ ˈænəlz /

plural noun

1. yearly records of events, generally in chronological order

2. history or records of history in general

3. regular reports of the work of a society, learned body, etc

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Other Word Forms

• annalist
  noun
• annalistic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of annals

1555–65; (< Middle French ) < Latin annālēs ( librī ) literally, yearly (books), plural of annālis continuing for a year, annual, equivalent to ann ( us ) a year + ālis -al ¹

Explanation

Annals are chronological historical records. Some annals recount the achievements of war heroes; others, in the form of high school yearbooks, record historically terrible hairstyles. Annals comes from the Latin word annus, meaning year. As the word itself suggests, many annals are yearly records, but this is not always the case. You may encounter the word annals in the phrase “annals of history,” which refers not to one specific historical record but the collection of all recorded history. Scholarly societies often refer to their regular reports as annals, as in the Annals of the International Society for Porcupine Studies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

annals

And then they were gone, leaving a sense of wonder and mystique in their wake that remains unparalleled in the annals of popular music — perhaps even for the whole of Western art.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

One reason is that the annals of Congress are full of female successors who did exactly that, partly out of fidelity to their seats’ previous occupants.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

Cooling their heels in a Venetian jail in 1755, Giacomo Casanova and the prisoner in the cell above him contrived one of the more imaginative escapes in the annals of criminology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Franjo von Allmen may have written his name into the annals of Olympic alpine skiing, but the grounded Swiss racer said ski history was wasted on him.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

Consequential as is the two-game lead the Soviet champion now enjoys, the board is still set for a duel that could rank among the most brilliant in this ancient game’s annals.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady