chronology
Americannoun
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the sequential order in which past events occur.
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a statement of this order.
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the science of arranging time in periods and ascertaining the dates and historical order of past events.
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a reference work organized according to the dates of events.
noun
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the determination of the proper sequence of past events
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the arrangement of dates, events, etc, in order of occurrence
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a table or list of events arranged in order of occurrence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of chronology
Explanation
A chronology is like a timeline: it tells what happened when. A chronology of your day would begin when you wake up and end when you go to sleep. Hopefully, something interesting happened in between. Khronos is the Greek word for "time" and that's where chronology comes from. If a movie has a lot of flashbacks or doesn't tell a story straight through from beginning to end, you might have to give it some thought in order to put together a chronology of events. If you are a detective, a correct chronology could be important to solving your case.
Vocabulary lists containing chronology
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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It's About Time: Chron and Temp
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Did You Planet? Words With Surprisingly Spacey Origins
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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:
Break down the chronology of your and Christian’s relationship.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
In the chronology of fouls, this was the first potential incident.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
But despite its experiment with chronology, “A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic” plays it safe when it comes to its plot—a surprise for readers expecting a story as adventuresome as its telling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
The competing "short chronology" suggests a later arrival, roughly 45,000 to 50,000 years ago.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2026
Ussher’s chronology and the Lost Tribes scenario were wrong.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
“Salesman” is more limber in its dramaturgy, shifting locations and blurring chronologies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
As a result, a wooden object can be dated by comparing the annual growth ring widths with already existing standard or regional chronologies.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
It’s futile and foolish to demand that a fantasy adhere to the chronologies of our world.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
In the wake of their headline-grabbing Vinland success, the Groningen team is tackling another alluring set of historical puzzles: “floating” chronologies, or ancient, internally consistent timelines that are untethered to specific dates.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 13, 2023
We generated background studies, psychological assessments, daily chronologies, myriad facts and extrapolations.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
