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

Example Sentences

The name Jean-Baptiste Lamarck has long carried a black mark in the annals of science.

From The Wall Street Journal

One day, these dynastic annals may form part of the historically literate man or woman’s mental furniture—we are not there yet.

From The Wall Street Journal

The number forever etched Adebayo’s name into the annals of individual basketball brilliance.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the recorded annals of puffin military campaigns, never did a puffin march into battle with such dignified grit.

From Literature

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