historian
Americannoun
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an expert in history; authority on history.
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a writer of history; chronicler.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of historian
Explanation
A historian is someone who is an authority on history. Your American History textbook was written by a historian. If you've ever taken a history class, chances are it was taught by a historian — someone who is an expert on history. You don't get to be a historian overnight; most historians have studied history for years and have a Master's or Ph.D. in history. If you want an informed opinion on past elections, wars, disasters, and trends, talk to a historian or read a book by one. Historians are experts on the past.
Vocabulary lists containing historian
"Mysteries of the Ancient Past"
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"The Sword in the Stone" and "Was There a Real King Arthur?"
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Week 5: Into the Past
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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:
“It’s common knowledge now among anybody,” said Art Westerinen, 64, the family historian and one of Dorothy’s three brothers.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
It is possible that a future historian will look back on this moment as a time of popular constitutionalism.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Seldom, though, has this story had as wise and witty a narrator as Robert O’Connell, a military historian whose sharp-edged style is evident right from the cheeky title of his book “Band on the Run.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
It comes days after Anthea Hartig, historian and director of the National Museum of American History, testified before a US House subcommittee and faced harsh criticism from Republican lawmakers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
One historian called Chernenko "an enfeebled geriatric so zombie-like as to be beyond assessing intelligence reports, alarming or not."
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Other historians might place Trump in the context of white rage and anti-immigrant sentiment.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Rigorously researched, “Skipping School” will interest historians of education and general readers curious about the place of homeschooling in American life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Of the options for what to do with it once bought, demolishing the site was out of the question for historians.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Some historians believe the arrow was added later, during restoration in the nineteenth century.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Butterfield’s solution was to advise historians to make the past their present.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
