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history

American  

[his-tuh-ree, his-tree] / ˈhɪs tə ri, ˈhɪs tri /

noun

• histories
  plural

1. the branch of knowledge dealing with past events.

2. a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle.

   a history of France;

   a medical history of the patient.

   Synonyms:

   annals, record

3. the aggregate of past events.

4. the record of past events and times, especially in connection with the human race.

5. a past notable for its important, unusual, or interesting events.

   a ship with a history.

6. acts, ideas, or events that will or can shape the course of the future; immediate but significant happenings.

   Firsthand observers of our space program see history in the making.

7. a systematic account of any set of natural phenomena without particular reference to time.

   a history of the American eagle.

8. a drama representing historical events.

   Shakespeare's comedies, histories, and tragedies.

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history British  

/ ˈhɪstrɪ, ˈhɪstərɪ /

noun

1. 1. a record or account, often chronological in approach, of past events, developments, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a history book

      a history play

2. all that is preserved or remembered of the past, esp in written form

3. the discipline of recording and interpreting past events involving human beings

4. past events, esp when considered as an aggregate

5. an event in the past, esp one that has been forgotten or reduced in importance

   their quarrel was just history

6. the past, background, previous experiences, etc, of a thing or person

   the house had a strange history

7. computing a stored list of the websites that a user has recently visited

8. a play that depicts or is based on historical events

9. a narrative relating the events of a character's life

   the history of Joseph Andrews

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history Idioms  

1. see ancient history; go down (in history); make history; (history) repeats itself.

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Synonym Usage

See narrative.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underhistory
  noun
• unhistory
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• histories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of history

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English historie, from Latin historia, from Greek historía “learning or knowing by inquiry, history”; derivative of hístōr “one who knows or sees; learned”; akin to wit ², video, Veda

Explanation

A history is a chronicle of events, like the history of the United States’ mission to put a man on the moon, or the world history class that you have to memorize all those dates for. History is a noun to describe past events, or an account of something, like the history of New York City. When you describe something as having a history, you’re implying it has an intriguing past. For example, a necklace that’s been passed down through generations has a history. But when you say something's history, what you mean is not that it no longer exists. Your fear of the water is history now that you know how to swim.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

history histories

Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker in history, suffered a stroke in 2015 that hospitalized him for an extended period.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

She was the youngest person in American history to hold the White House press secretary position.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

But the film merely gestures to its own unfortunate place in history, without ever cementing it as a tragedy.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

Rocco noted Nvidia’s recent buyback authorization of $150 billion, the largest in U.S. corporate history.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

I watched this alternative history spiral out in flashes and blips and bit my lip.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

In late August, Greece and Israel signed one of the largest defence export deals in both countries' histories.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Flash fiction, sweeping histories and bold memoirs — discover the highly anticipated fiction and nonfiction our book reviewers are dipping into this autumn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Over the years, I have come to understand that we learn our parents’ histories slowly, often in fragments, and sometimes only in retrospect.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

The researchers also had limited information about participants' H. pylori status and family histories of gastric cancer.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

I would say to Yali: the striking differences between the long-term histories of peoples of the different continents have been due not to innate differences in the peoples themselves but to differences in their environments.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• account
• annals
• biography
• record
• relation
• story
• tale