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his⋅to⋅ry

  [his-tuh-ree, his-tree]
Use history in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ries.
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.
3. the aggregate of past events.
4. the record of past events and times, esp. 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.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME historie < L historia < Gk historía learning or knowing by inquiry, history; deriv. of hístōr one who knows or sees (akin to wit, video, veda)

Synonyms:
2. record, annals. See narrative.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To history
his·to·ry   (hĭs'tə-rē)   
n.   pl. his·to·ries
    1. A usually chronological record of events, as of the life or development of a people or institution, often including an explanation of or commentary on those events: a history of the Vikings.
    2. A formal written account of related natural phenomena: a history of volcanoes.
    3. A record of a patient's medical background.
    4. An established record or pattern of behavior: an inmate with a history of substance abuse.
    5. The past events relating to a particular thing: The history of their rivalry is full of intrigue.
    6. The aggregate of past events or human affairs: basic tools used throughout history.
    7. An interesting past: a house with history.
    8. Something that belongs to the past: Their troubles are history now.
    9. Slang One that is no longer worth consideration: Why should we worry about him? He's history!
  2. The branch of knowledge that records and analyzes past events: "History has a long-range perspective" (Elizabeth Gurley Flynn).
    1. The past events relating to a particular thing: The history of their rivalry is full of intrigue.
    2. The aggregate of past events or human affairs: basic tools used throughout history.
    3. An interesting past: a house with history.
    4. Something that belongs to the past: Their troubles are history now.
    5. Slang One that is no longer worth consideration: Why should we worry about him? He's history!
  4. A drama based on historical events: the histories of Shakespeare.

[Middle English histoire, from Old French, from Latin historia, from Greek historiā, from historein, to inquire, from histōr, learned man; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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History

His"to*ry\, n.; pl. Histories. [L. historia, Gr. 'istori`a history, information, inquiry, fr. 'istwr, "istwr, knowing, learned, from the root of ? to know; akin to E. wit. See Wit, and cf. Story.]

1. A learning or knowing by inquiry; the knowledge of facts and events, so obtained; hence, a formal statement of such information; a narrative; a description; a written record; as, the history of a patient's case; the history of a legislative bill.

2. A systematic, written account of events, particularly of those affecting a nation, institution, science, or art, and usually connected with a philosophical explanation of their causes; a true story, as distinguished from a romance; -- distinguished also from annals, which relate simply the facts and events of each year, in strict chronological order; from biography, which is the record of an individual's life; and from memoir, which is history composed from personal experience, observation, and memory.

Histories are as perfect as the historian is wise, and is gifted with an eye and a soul. --Carlyle.

For aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history. --Shak.

What histories of toil could I declare! --Pope.

History piece, a representation in painting, drawing, etc., of any real event, including the actors and the action.

Natural history, a description and classification of objects in nature, as minerals, plants, animals, etc., and the phenomena which they exhibit to the senses.

Syn: Chronicle; annals; relation; narration.

Usage: History, Chronicle, Annals. History is a methodical record of important events which concern a community of men, usually so arranged as to show the connection of causes and effects, to give an analysis of motive and action etc. A chronicle is a record of such events, conforming to the order of time as its distinctive feature. Annals are a chronicle divided up into separate years. By poetic license annals is sometimes used for history.

Justly C[ae]sar scorns the poet's lays; It is to history he trusts for praise. --Pope.

No more yet of this; For 't is a chronicle of day by day, Not a relation for a breakfast. --Shak.

Many glorious examples in the annals of our religion. --Rogers.

History

His"to*ry\, v. t. To narrate or record. [Obs.] --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : history
Spanish: historia,
German: die Geschichte, Geschichts-…,
Japanese: 歴史研究
More Translations »

history 
1390, "relation of incidents" (true or false), from O.Fr. historie, from L. historia "narrative, account, tale, story," from Gk. historia "a learning or knowing by inquiry, history, record, narrative," from historein "inquire," from histor "wise man, judge," from PIE *wid-tor-, from base *weid- "to know," lit. "to see" (see vision). Related to Gk. idein "to see," and to eidenai "to know." In M.E., not differentiated from story; sense of "record of past events" probably first attested 1485. Sense of "systematic account (without reference to time) of a set of natural phenomena" (1567) is now obs. except in natural history. What is historic (1669) is noted or celebrated in history; what is historical (1561) deals with history. Historian "writer of history in the higher sense," distinguished from a mere annalist or chronicler, is from 1531. The O.E. word was þeod-wita.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: his·to·ry
Pronunciation: 'his-t(&-)rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ries
: an account of apatient's family and personal background and past and present health
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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history
1. A record of previous user inputs (e.g. to a command interpreter) which can be re-entered without re-typing them. The major improvement of the C shell (csh) over the Bourne shell (sh) was the addition of a command history. This was still inferior to the history mechanism on VMS which allowed you to recall previous commands as the current input line. You could then edit the command using cursor motion, insert and delete. These sort of history editing facilities are available under tcsh and GNU Emacs.
2. The history of computing.
3. See Usenet newsgroups soc.history and alt.history for discussion of the history of the world.
(1995-04-05)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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history

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

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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