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:
Most documentaries urge you to not turn away from the horrors they chronicle, but few make that request as explicitly as “American Doctor.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
In the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains, her L.A. chronicle would continue, as dreamed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"The bigger vision is to stitch all of this together into a coherent timeline," Hennawi said: "a quasar chronicle of the first billion years."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
American museums that chronicle slavery increasingly focus on enslaved people’s community-building skills and entrepreneurial abilities.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
She was under no obligation to the truth, she had promised no one a chronicle.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
She followed that up with “Traps,” in 2013, a slim suspense novel that chronicles the lives of four women in the American Southwest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The artwork, which chronicles scenes from the 1066 Battle of Hastings and the start of the Norman Conquest of England, was held in a shock-proof and temperature controlled case to protect the delicate embroidery.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
She also started a Substack newsletter called “Finding Claire-ity,” where she openly chronicles her life and struggles on the tour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The landscape inspired the author C. S. Lewis to create his fictional land Narnia, the setting for his chronicles including, most famously, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
They disagree on which social factors to emphasize and on how much weight to assign individual Spanish chronicles, but the outline seems not in serious dispute.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
All of them chronicled their holidays on social media, giving the Greek tourism industry a massive hit of free advertising.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Since then, every twist of their relationship has been chronicled by the press.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
One of her biggest writers is the author-activist Glennon Doyle, who has chronicled addiction, divorce and an unexpected romance with soccer player Abby Wambach across a string of blockbuster self-help memoirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Part essay, part documentary archive, it chronicled the discoveries she made as a private investigator and her attempt to renew her PI license that fall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Escalante, whose efforts were chronicled in the film Stand and Deliver, did it by turning his class into an important symbol of status.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
The journalist Michael Wolff, who has been chronicling Trump for years, says he obtained both letters while writing a book about the president’s 2024 campaign.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
Eventually, he said, he was contributing weekly columns to Sp!ts, a free commuter newspaper in Amsterdam, chronicling his growing infatuation with the sport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
The 43-year-old became widely known following a Netflix documentary chronicling his journey, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, released two years later.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
A filmmaker followed Sen. Lindsey Graham over the past three years, chronicling his relationship with Trump and Netanyahu.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
As his subjects grew older, Terman issued updates on their progress, chronicling their extraordinary achievements.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
