ancient history

American  

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.

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ancient history British  

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

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ancient history Idioms  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of ancient history

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ancient history

Looking ahead: “Energy saved the day in June, but that might become ancient history if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t open soon,” said David Russell, global head of strategy at TradeStation.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

That’s ancient history to most of us, making it fertile loam for speculative interpretation.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

Those numbers are ancient history, blown away by what has been an unbelievable earnings season.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

"This wasn't a missing chapter in New Zealand's ancient history, it was a missing volume."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2026

“Ah, but fortunately,” said my uncle, his eyes twinkling, “you are a dedicated scholar of ancient history and literature. You were able to solve it, I think.”

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan