history

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings

   They teach Medieval history.

2. 2
   noun

   a record or narrative description of past events

   a history of France

3. 3
   noun

   the aggregate of past events

   a critical time in the school's history

4. 4
   noun

   the continuum of events occurring in succession leading from the past to the present and even into the future

   all of human history

5. 5
   noun

   The aggregate of past events, both unrecorded and recorded.

   The history of mammals stretches back many millions of years.

6. 6
   noun

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

   He teaches Latin American history at the university and publishes books about the Cold War.

7. 7
   noun

   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.

   Near-synonym: ages

8. 8
   noun

   A set of events involving an entity.

   a long and sordid history

Etymology

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.