history

CEFRA1

/ˈhɪs.tə.ɹi/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The study or record of events that happened in the past.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The empirical study of past events, as distinct from literature, myth, or scripture; the assessment of notable events.

Examples

  • How come you know so much about Japanese history?

  • The battle was a turning point in human history.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈhɪst͡ʃ(ə)ɹɪj/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The portion of the past that is known and recorded by this field of study, as opposed to all earlier and unknown times that preceded it.

  2. The aggregate of past events.

  3. The aggregate of past events, both unrecorded and recorded.

More examples

In context

  • Your speech will be recorded in history.

  • He dreams of an invention that will make history.

  • History repeats itself if we don’t learn from its mistakes.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The teacher explained the blank of the ancient civilization.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English historie, from Old French estoire, estorie (“chronicle, history, story”) (French histoire), from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ἱστορίᾱ (historíā, “learning through research”), from ἱστορέω (historéō, “to research, inquire (and) record”), from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “the knowing, wise one”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Doublet of story and storey. Attested in Middle English in 1393 by John Gower, Confessio Amantis, which was aimed at an educated audience familiar with French and Latin.