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historyn. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from French. Etymons: Latin historia; French historie, histoire. Etymology: In Old English < classical Latin historia (in post-classical Latin also istoria (7th or 8th cent.)) (see below); subsequently reborrowed < (i) Anglo-Norman and Old French istorie, estoire, historie, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French estorie, Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French histoire, Old French, Middle French hystoire, Middle French histore account of the events of a person's life (beginning of the 12th cent.), chronicle, account of events as relevant to a group of people or people in general (1155), dramatic or pictorial representation of historical events (c1240), body of knowledge relative to human evolution, science (c1265), narrative of real or imaginary events, story (c1462), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin historia (in post-classical Latin also istoria (7th or 8th cent.)) investigation, inquiry, research, account, description, written account of past events, writing of history, historical narrative, recorded knowledge of past events, story, narrative, in post-classical Latin also narrative illustration (from 12th cent. in British sources) < ancient Greek ἱστορία inquiry, knowledge obtained by inquiry, account of such inquiries, narrative, in Hellenistic Greek also story, account < ἵστορ- , ἵστωρ or ἴστορ- , ἴστωρ (ancient Greek (Boeotian) ϝίστωρ ) (noun) judge, witness, (adjective) knowing, learned ( < an ablaut variant (zero-grade) of the stem of οἶδα to know (see wit v.1) + -τωρ , suffix forming agent nouns) + -ία -y suffix3. Old French forms in e- arise as alterations of earlier forms in i- , which was unusual in this position in Old French; Middle French forms in h- show remodelling after classical Latin historia . Compare Old Occitan estoria , Catalan història (14th cent.), Spanish historia (1220–50; also as †estoria ), Portuguese história (14th cent.), Italian storia (1690; a1374 as †istoria ). Compare story n.The Latin word was earlier borrowed into Old English as stær (also ster , steor ) history, narrative, story (perhaps via Celtic; compare Early Irish stoir , Middle Breton ster ); the length of the stem vowel of the Old English word is uncertain, and the phonology is difficult to explain (see further A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §§507, 516, 545, 565, and (for a summary of views) A. H. Feulner Die griechischen Lehnwörter im Altenglischen (2000) 248–51):eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxv. 346 Song he [sc. Cædmon] ærest be middangeardes gesceape & bi fruman moncynnes & eal þæt stær Genesis, þæt is seo æreste Moyses booc.OE Harley Gloss. (Kansas fragm.) (Dict. Old Eng. transcript) Istoria, gewyrd uel stær.OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 26 May 109 Ond his [sc. Augustine's] siðfatas ealle to Breotone, ond his gastlice lare syndon awritene on Ongelcynnes steore [OE Corpus Cambr. 196 stere], þæt is on Historia Anglorum.OE Homily (Bodl. 340) (Dict. Old Eng. transcript) Nu we gehyrdon þæt stær anlepig þeoses halgan lectiones reccan and secgan.OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Otho) v. Concl. 484 Ðæt cyriclice stær usses ealondes & þiode ic on fif bec gesette. The later learned borrowing Old English istoria is only rarely attested (in one instance used with Latin case inflections: see quot. OE at sense 1a), and there is apparently no continuity of use between Old English and Middle English. The use of the semi-naturalized Old English word in verse in quot. OE at sense 1a is noteworthy: apparently in a half-line of metrical type C with vocalic alliteration and resolved stress, implying a trisyllabic pronunciation with initial stress and with the second i representing consonantal /j/. Compare also the following early use of the Latin word (in sense 2a) in an English context:OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 296 Sum ðæra [sc. parts of Grammar] is gehaten historia, þæt is gereccednyss.The Latin word is also frequently attested in an English context in the titles of books; compare:OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xviii. 174 Hieronimus se wisa mæssepreost awrat on ðære bec ðe we hatað ecclesiastica historia.OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxi. 199 Beda ure lareow awrat on ðære bec þe is gehaten historia anglorum.OE Ælfric Homily: Wyrdwriteras (Hatton 115) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 730 Gratianus wæs gehaten sum healic casere, swyðe on God gelyfed, swa swa us segð seo boc Tripartita Istoria [of Cassiodorus], þæt is, Þryfeald Gereccednyss. ▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 147 Eusebius and Pamphilius writeþ þe storie ecclesiastica þat is i-cleped Historia tripartita. In sense 6 after the corresponding use of ancient Greek ἱστορία by Aristotle and other writers, and of classical Latin historia by Pliny. I. Senses relating to the narration, representation, or study of events or phenomena. 1. society > communication > record > written record > historical record or chronicle > [noun] society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > historical narrative > [noun] eOE tr. Orosius (BL Add.) (1980) iii. i. 56 Ic scæl eac þy lator Romana istoria asecgan þe ic angunnen hæfde. OE (Corpus Cambr. 41) i. 4 Ic iglanda eallra hæbbe boca onbyrged þurh gebregdstafas, larcræftas onlocen Libia and Greca, swylce eac istoriam Indea rices. c1475 (?c1451) (Royal) (1860) 22 (MED) Youre first anncien right and title in youre duchie of Normandie..is knowen..of highe recorde by many credible bookis of olde cronicles and histories. 1549 W. Thomas (title) The historie of Italie. 1557 in 35 (title) The history of king Richard the thirde (vnfinished) writen by Master Thomas More..about the yeare of our Lorde 1513. 1563 N. Winȝet (1890) II. 49 Quhow worschipful wes he..the historiis declaris, quhilkis schawis that the mother of Alexander the Empriour callit him in hir cumpanie. 1630 E. Cary tr. J. D. Du Perron iii. xi. 370 Socrates in the beginning of this historie saith, that he hath abridged it from the collection of Sabinus. 1688 T. Shadwell ii. i. 28 How can there be a true History, when we see no man living is able to write truly the History of the last week? 1735 A. M. Ramsay (title) The history of Henri de la Tour D'Auvergne, Viscount de Turenne, Marshal-General of France. 1753 W. Smith tr. Thucydides I. i. 3 Thucydides an Athenian hath compiled the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians. 1803 10 517 Some important dates and circumstances towards the history of the Influenza. 1857 H. T. Buckle I. xiii. 711 Mezeray..was also the first who saw that a history, to be of real value, must be a history, not only of kings, but of nations. a1872 F. D. Maurice (1874) vi. 177 They profess to be Histories—that is, records of the actual growth and unfolding of a particular nation. 1940 E. Wilson i. ii. 9 The first volume or two of Michelet's history, dealing with the early races of Gaul,..were not particularly successful. 1973 L. Hellman 122 I could not write a history of those years as it seemed to us then. 2010 30 Mar. 29/4 He wrote histories of holiday camps, allotment gardens and amateur music-making. the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > a narrative or account c1230 (?a1200) (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 81 Me schal leoue sustren þeose estoires [?c1225 Cleo. storien] tellen ow, for ha weren to longe to writen ham here. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vi. l. 1383 I finde in a bok compiled To this matiere an old histoire, The which comth nou to mi memoire. ?a1440 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Paris angl. 39) (1940) l. 1124 His history [c1405 Hengwrt I lete al this storie passen by]. ?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton (Harl. 6579) i. xi. f. 7v (MED) Þus we reden in þe ystorie of here [sc. Mary Magdalene]. 1484 W. Caxton tr. vi. xiii. f. ciiiv The carpenter told thystorye to his felawes. 1551 T. Wilson sig. Svj We reade a notable Historie of a younge childe in Rome, called Papirius. 1563 W. Fulke iii. f. 25v Which may be veryfied by an historie that Plutarchus in the life of..Flaminius, reporteth. 1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes ii. l. 332 Cid Hamete, the most punctuall Searcher of the very moats of this true History. 1632 W. Lithgow vi. 248 Heere Dives the rich Glutton dwelt..this I suspend..for all hold it to bee a Parable, and not a History. 1700 T. Brown x. 119 A Mountebank on the Stage..gave them a History of his Cures. 1753 15 Feb. 38 If these Growlers..would content themselves with giving repeated histories of their own ill-fortune. 1834 T. Medwin II. 183 Byron had some excellent pairs of pistols, about most of which there were histories. 1891 M. M. Dowie xxi. 296 A curious specimen of beadledom who ran off long unintelligible histories in atrocious Viennese patois. 1918 W. H. Hudson xxii. 299 It was as delightful..to listen to my brother's endless histories of imaginary heroes and their wars and adventures. 1982 103/2 I tell him so he could make a good history out of it. 2000 P. Carey (title) True history of the Kelly gang. 1827 Q. Periscope Pract. Med. Apr. in 6 545 But the previous history, the absence of all pain, swelling, abscess, fistula or cicatrix, and the simultaneous affection of both sides are sufficient to correct this error. 1861 5 Jan. 1/1 Let me read to you the history of these two cases as they have been briefly drawn up by the Clinical Clerk. 1878 J. Finlayson 58 The History of the illness under observation should, as a rule, be taken separately from the record of the previous health of the patient. 1922 33 184/2 The family history was unimportant. 1966 N. Coward 13 Mar. (2000) 626 He listened to my garbled medical history attentively. 1977 66 135 Mucoid change appeared to develop only when the clinical history indicated a lengthy period of valvular dysfunction. 2001 11 Dec. ii. 10/1 Autism cannot be diagnosed with a blood test or a brain scan; it is a matter of taking a history and understanding different manifestations. 1983 6 June 65 (advt.) Telephone management capabilities:..Call history file. 2004 30 May a3/4 Bazzell tracked Davis' movements through his cell phone history. 2006 21 May c11/4 When the government decides the history of my phone calls should become part of the public dialogue, I have means to explain myself. 2012 (Nexis) 10 Jan. (Life section) e6 He frequently messages her when I'm not home, then deletes the history. 1989 (IEEE Computer Soc.) 12 48 If browsing history is maintained, then users are able to retract [sic] their steps. 1994 Re: Back button in comp.infosystems.www.providers (Usenet newsgroup) 11 Nov. The browsers already have ‘forward’ and ‘back’ buttons that traverse the browsing history. 1997 18 Nov. 4/1 I particularly like the ‘Explorer bars’ in IE 4.0, which let you easily go back through your history or see any page that is in your cache. 2002 23 June e1/6 Be around when your children are on-line and check their browser history. 2009 M. Miller ii. 35 You can display your history by clicking the Favourites button. 2. a. The branch of knowledge that deals with past events; the formal record or study of past events, esp. human affairs. Also: this as a subject of study. the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [noun] society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > historical narrative > [noun] > history as a branch of knowledge a1450 (c1435) J. Lydgate Life SS. Edmund & Fremund (Harl.) l. 603 in C. Horstmann (1881) 2nd Ser. 404 And as it is remembryd in historye And registred be old antiquyte, Beside Radforde he hadde this victorye. 1482 W. Caxton in tr. Prohemye sig. a3 Somme sothly techyth to lye, But historye representynge the thynges lyke vnto the wordes, enbraceth al vtylyte & prouffite. a1500 (?c1425) (1936) 118 And this feste is callid tyme of Paske by historie, allegorie, and tropo[lo]gye. 1565 T. Cooper at Vetustas Historie is the reporter of antiquitie, or of thinges doone in olde time. 1625 N. Carpenter ii. vii. 126 Where History is vncertaine, reasonable coniecture must challenge precedency. 1651 T. Hobbes i. ix. 40 The Register of Knowledge of Fact is called History. 1735 Visct. Bolingbroke (1752) ii. 14 I have read somewhere..that history is philosophy teaching by examples. 1762 W. Thom 29 To employ those to teach history, geography, and philosophy, who are reputed to have no tolerable knowledge of those things. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1763 I. 223 Nor can history or poetry exhibit more than pleasure triumphing over virtue, or virtue subjugating pleasure. a1817 J. Austen (1818) I. xiv. 255 I can read poetry and plays... But history, real solemn history, I cannot be interested in. View more context for this quotation 1855 A. Bain ii. i. 442 The successions of events and transactions in human life, remembered and related, make History. 1886 E. A. Freeman iii. 117 I should be most inclined..to say that history is the science of man in his character as a political being. 1926 12 473 History is at one with science in resting its conclusions on observation. 1946 R. Vambery viii. 152 It will certainly not hurt the pride of the Hungarian people to be taught history deprived of its beautifying trimmings. 2005 July 63/2 He relentlessly studied history, philosophy and classic literature. 1566 J. Rastell ii. iii. sig. Q There needeth not a Texte for their praise, owt of the Scriptures or Auncient Historie. 1605 F. Bacon ii. sig. Cc4 Histories which may..be tearmed the Antiqvities of the World; and after them, Histories which may bee likewise called by the name of Moderne Historie. View more context for this quotation 1678 W. D. tr. F. de La Mothe Le Vayer Pref. sig. A6v They that prefer Fabulous Stories before true Narratives, and Romances before Roman history, will not find content here. 1735 Visct. Bolingbroke (1752) ii. 36 Modern history shews the causes, when experience presents the effects alone: and ancient history enables us to guess at the effects, when experience presents the causes alone. 1773 H. Chapone II. 183 I only mean to warn you against mixing ancient history with modern. 1816 M. Keating (1817) I. 241 We hardly find in classical history any parallel. 1890 Nov. 631/2 Nobody denies..the cultural value of Greek and Roman history. 1907 E. Reich 1 The Germans are afflicted with the severest attack of swelled-headedness known to modern history. 1966 H. Davies (1967) 47 If you prefer British history to European art, skip the National Gallery and spend your time here [sc. the National Portrait Gallery] instead. 2009 23 iii. 47/3 The target audience is those engaged in postgraduate studies in medieval history, family history, or local studies. 1482 W. Caxton in tr. Prohemye sig. a2v Historye..as moder of alle philosophye, moeuynge our maners to vertue, reformeth and reconcyleth ner hande alle thoos men, whiche thurgh the Infyrmyte of oure mortal nature hath ledde the mooste parte of theyr lyf in Ocyosyte. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. Pref. 2 Hystorie..detesteth, erketh, and abhorreth vices. 1593 G. Harvey 185 Is it not impossible, for Humanity to be a spittle-man, Rhetorique a dummerell,..History a bankrowt? 1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes I. ii. i. 65 History, the Emulatresse of Time. a1658 J. Cleveland (1677) 104 He is the Embryo of a History slink'd before Maturity. 1727 W. Warburton i. 54 What then must we expect from this spirituous Imposture; which persuades the credulous Reader that the Soul of History is here disingaged from the unweildy..Carcasses of Chronicle and Annal? 1749 H. Fielding V. xiii. i. 3 Alderman History tells his tedious Tale; and again to awaken thee, Monsieur Romance performs his surprizing Tricks of Dexterity. View more context for this quotation 1793 H. Walpole Let. 6 Dec. in M. Berry (1865) I. 425 As History is silent on what became of them, I will not easily credit their re-existence. 1848 J. R. Lowell (ed. 2) 916 Already for each I see History preparing the statue and niche. 1892 E. Thompson 137 History can hardly be said to know aught of the fate of his two young nephews. 1949 90 288/1 History has rightly reprehended those reckless spirits who needlessly rush into tight corners, hot places and tough spots. 1999 12 Sept. 7/1 History..is a crook. It is on the side of the big battalions. a1500 Rule Minoresses in W. W. Seton (1914) 113 Ȝif any fest..whoche haþ proper respons..fal on a sonday, þere as none estori shal be first entrid, þe offise shal be seyde of þe fest & memori of þe sonday. 1849 D. Rock I. i. i. 9 What responses, or, as they were formerly called ‘histories’, were to be sung on Sundays. 1882 F. Procter & C. Wordsworth I. Index p. mdxi (note) The other histories, less often referred to, are Locutus est, Isti sunt, In monte Oliveti,..Dignus es, and Narrabo. 1976 S. J. P. van Dijk in G. W. H. Lampe II. 251 The biblical responsories are distributed in sets over the various seasons of the liturgical year... Since the eleventh century these sets have become known as responsorial historiae, histories. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play a1509 (?1468) in (1846) 31 332 Other pageaunts of dyvers historis. 1598 W. Shakespeare (title) The History of Henrie the Fovrth. 1603 W. Shakespeare ii. ii. 399 The best Actors in Christendome, Either for Comedy, Tragedy, Historie, Pastorall. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. vii. 164 Last Scene of all, That ends this strange euentfull historie . View more context for this quotation 1623 (title) Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. 1719 G. Jacob I. 228 His [sc. Shakespeare's] Plays..which are call'd Histories, and even some of his Comedies, are really Tragedies with a Mixture of Comedy amongst them. 1789 P. Neve 96 The plays of Lee are in general rather histories, than tragedies. 1864 J. F. Kirk (U.S. ed.) I. ii. iii. 525 She was entertained with ‘Histories’—a kind of dramatic representation. 1877 E. Dowden (Macmillan Lit. Primers) vi. §15. 97 Both parts of Henry IV consist of a comedy and a history fused together. 1903 L. N. Chase ii. 18 It is doubtless because of the mere frequent mention of historic figures and events..that these plays were called histories. 2004 55 450 I thought later about the productions of Shakespeare's histories that I had seen. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > historical painting > a historical painting ?1521 A. Barclay sig. Cvj All the walles within of fynest golde With olde hystories, and pyctures manyfolde. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay ii. xvi. f. 50v A great colomne, in ye which are carued by histories the things memorable, whiche haue been done in this Hippodrome. 1622 H. Peacham xii. 133 Making in his Cloyster many Histories in wet, after Masaccio's manner. 1670 S. Wilson (new ed.) i. 112 In the Sacristy we were showne..a curious back of an Altar of Yuory cut into histories after a rare manner. 1715 J. Richardson 138 When a Painter intends to make a History. 1776 J. Reynolds (1876) vii. 422 A landscape of Claude Lorraine may be preferred to a history by Luca Giordano. 1828 T. Roscoe tr. L. Lanzi III. 72 Two other artists also painted there certain histories of S. Cristoforo. a1859 S. Spooner (1865) II. 798/1 He afterwards decorated the Ducal palace at Mantua with fresco histories of the Trojan war. 1947 Sept. 257/1 We know that in early life he painted ‘histories’ and at least one landscape. 1963 28 Feb. 384/3 He [sc. Degas] remains..even when he is no longer a painter of ‘histories’, a profoundly reactionary figure. 1993 P. Ackroyd (1994) ii. 74 The walls are hung with painted cloths where several histories, as well as herbs and beasts, are stained. the world > life > biology > study > [noun] > natural history > work of 1534 J. Fewterer tr. U. Pinder f. iiiiv And if yet thou continue in thy stubbernes and harde herte, for perauenture thy herte is tourned in to the hardnes of a Dyamant, whiche can neuer be broken but with the hote blode of a gote, as Plinius sayth in his naturall historie. 1567 J. Maplet (title) A Greene Forest, or a natural Historie, wherein may bee seene the most sufferaigne Vertues in all the whole kinde of Stones and Mettals; of Brute Beastes, Fowles, Fishes [etc.]. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus (title) A Geographical Historie of Africa. 1608 E. Topsell (title) The History of Serpents. 1615 H. Crooke 270 Aristotle in his Bookes of the History and Generation of creatures, doth [etc.]. 1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in (rev. ed.) 1100 Niphus cals that little Scorpion which eats books Tineas, whereof I spake in the history of Scorpions. 1676 J. Ray (1848) 122 In the ‘History of the Fero Islands’ I find no more species of birds than what I have already inserted. 1747 W. Gould Pref. It is impossible to write an exact or perfect History of this Kind; because a Number of Particulars will escape our nicest Observations, and leave Room for future Discoveries. 1755 IV. 3496/2 Nereis, in the history of insects, a genus of insects of the order of the gymnarthria, the body of which is of a cylindric figure. 1774 O. Goldsmith (title) History of the Earth and animated nature. 1801 R. Patton 149 The history is called, ‘A modern unchronological Account of Bengal’. 1843 W. MacGillivray (title) A history of the molluscous animals of the counties of Aberdeen, Kincardine, and Banff. 1859 17 Sept. 283/1 There is nothing in the microscopic history of the parasites of the human surface which contradicts the reasonableness of the opinion which regards them of one common nature. II. Past events and related senses. 7. the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > course of events > connected with a particular person, country, etc. c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Cosmogr. Recap., in sig. Diij The history of Scotland is sa implicat with the history of Ingland that [etc.]. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. iv. 110 Du. And what's her history? Vio. A blanke my Lord. View more context for this quotation 1654 R. Whitlock 200 For every one..to turn over a new leafe in his own History, and amend his own Erratas. 1715 J. Richardson 98 If there be any thing particular in the History of the Person which is proper to be Express'd. 1749 J. Cleland I. 5 I go souse into my personal history. 1839 31 226 The idea of a screw propeller seems to have been formed very early in the history of steam navigation. 1852 T. T. Lynch Brief Medit. in (1872) 255 Every man has a moral history. 1872 J. Yeats 93 Travelling by sea was a task for which their previous history had not prepared them. 1919 1 May 4/1 January 18th, 1889 should be a red-letter day in the history of Cambridge University. 1986 J. Viorst iii. 47 People sharing strikingly similar histories may emerge from them in strikingly different ways. 2009 Dec. 260/1 It was a very dramatic moment in the history of Italy. the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > course of events > aggregate of human affairs 1654 R. Whitlock 306 Take a turn in the Temple of History, and there meet with instructive Lectures of Providence. 1745 (Dublin rev. ed.) VIII. 258 The giving a full, distinct, and perspicuous account of such perplexed parts of history, is one of the greatest services a writer can render to posterity. 1771 E. Burke (1844) I. 332 History is a preceptor of prudence, not of principles. 1845 J. S. Mill II. 221 It was Lessing by whom the course of history was styled ‘the education of the human race’. 1871 S. Smiles i. 22 History..is but continuous humanity influenced by men of character. 1902 G. S. Whitmore p. vi Everything should be done to save the native people from the fate which in all history had befallen aboriginal races brought into contact with civilization. 1975 J. Plamenatz i. 5 We fail to do justice to the subtleties of Marx's..reasons for assigning a special role in history to the proletariat. 2008 20 June 34/1 Some of humankind's most significant advances throughout history have been a result of agricultural innovation. the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > course of events > of which the story may be told 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay (title page) Nauigations, Peregrinations, and Voyages made into Turkie..with diuers faire and memorable histories happened in our times. 1608 E. Topsell 15 As may appeare by this succeeding discourse, of a true history done in England, in the house of a worshipfull Gentleman. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot i. 186 Many Figures in Bass Relief, representing several sacred Histories. the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [noun] > period or stage of life > specific 1822 Dec. 534/2 The pleasures of a residence at Leamington is also greatly enhanced to me by its being surrounded with objects which have a history as well as a name. 1860 ‘G. Eliot’ III. vi. iii. 43 The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history. 1895 ‘Péronne’ x. 209 I know what it is to love and to be parted. I, too, have a history. 1908 J. S. Davies Introd. p. ix This book has something of a history. 1949 Oct. 34/1 (heading) Bankrupt. A Word with a History. 2005 N. Hornby 70 And we had a history. There was a brief affair when we were co-presenting, [etc.]. 1852 20 Mar. 291/2 There does not appear to be any history of syphilis. 1881 11 June 650/1 A clerk, aged forty-two years, a widower, no family history of alcoholism, drug addiction, insanity, marked nervous disease, or syphilis. 1900 25 Aug. 596/2 No syphilitic history was ascertained in the parents, but in the second case..inquiry revealed an undoubted syphilitic history in the child's father. 1968 73 563/2 She had no history of a ‘mousey odor,’ seizures, or eczema. 1982 64A 192/1 Establishing the clinical diagnosis of a torn glenoid labrum may be difficult, as not all patients with such tears have a history of a previous shoulder dislocation. 2004 Apr. 182/3 Last year, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found the first gene responsible for a family history of heart attack or heart disease. 1917 N. O. Winter II. 833/2 The older Central Mennonite College of Bluffton..has a history of useful service and a long list of alumni and former students. 1969 9 May 89/1 He had a history of backing the decisions of his appointees. 1983 J. Gayton (film script) 17 The Vietnamese have a history of holding prisoners for long periods. 1993 (Nexis) 11 May d1 Whether Coach Larry Brown, who has a history of changing jobs,will return next season. 2007 F. P. Wilson 881 He has a history of violence. Perhaps you have seen evidence of that. 1937 M. Levin iv. iv. 946 During the entire two years, he hadn't been to the Fair, so he'd better take it all in tonight before it was history. 1978 T. Sanchez 220 Five more strikes and this game is history. 1983 Nov. 172/3 I don't care if you're Superman or Superfly, you go on the streets and talk that trash and you're history! 1992 D. Adams xviii. 217 Everything went swimmingly smoothly for me from then, on up to the very moment that I came up against the totty with the rock, then, bang, I'm history. I'm out of the loop. 1999 D. Mitchell 75 If we don't have the Mickey Kwan gains to offset the upsets in Bangkok and Tokyo, we're history. 2006 (National ed.) 5 Oct. a31/1 Soon, like the brown leather boots of the early cold war, the Vietnam-era pickle suit and the chocolate chip Desert Storm camo, the B.D.U. [sc. Battle Dress Uniform] will be history. Phrases P1. General. 1821 17 May 2/3 He felt also for Parliament, lest its name should go down to history with the reproach of having allowed such a transaction to pass sub silentio. 1830 Oct. 511 The second trial and banishment of De Potter, Tielmans, and their associates, will go down in history as one of the most scandalous perversions of justice ever perpetrated. 1899 22 July 40/2 Their names should go down in history with those of the foremost patriots of the Revolution. 1947 G. O. Smith in Apr. 87/1 He'd go down in history..as the first peacetime user of directive power for interstellar flight. 1986 W. Weaver tr. U. Eco v. 216 This is one of those photographs that will go down in history and will appear in a thousand books. 2002 J. Weyland xiv. 209 Tantalus has to go down in history as one of the most unrideable places ever made for skateboarding. the world > action or operation > doing > act or do [verb (intransitive)] > do something worthy of remembrance the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > be worthy of notice 1830 Feb. 147/1 Bourrienne was aware that he and his master were making history; so that he did not, like so many unconscious actors in great scenes, let the opportunities pass without taking accurate note of all that came under his notice. 1862 1 Mar. 139/1 People engaged in public transactions are sometimes said to be making history, because they occasionally perform actions to which history condescends to impart perpetuity. 1890 O. Wilde in July 137 Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it. 1915 ‘I. Hay’ xx. 311 We shall have a chance of making history over this, old man. 1959 N. Mailer (1961) 208 I had been ready to..publish..at my own expense, and try to make a kind of publishing history. 2006 5 July 3/5 (heading) Baroness Hayman makes history as first Lord Speaker. 1839 J. Wade 789/1 He had been confined to his chamber..and on the 15th April began making his will... The rest is history, of which Napoleon is now almost as much a portion as Cæsar or Hannibal. 1877 12 June 4/1 The [Tammany] ring was broken at last! The rest is history. Harry Genet died miserably. Woodward was caught. Connelly is a homeless wanderer. 1901 6 Dec. 875/1 The engagement was quickly made. Rowland was sent to Europe to study laboratories and purchase apparatus, and the rest is history. 1939 W. L. Phelps ci. 896 The next year she was ranked third among the women players of the United States, and the year following she was Champion. The rest is history. 1994 Feb. 31/3 When the strike ended, the reinstated Danish bakers learned the pastry secrets of the Viennese bakers, and the rest is gastronomic history. 2000 J. Caughie i. 51 The BBC poached Newman from ABC in 1963 to lead it into its Golden Age, and the rest is history. 1989 F. Fukuyama in Summer 4/1 What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such. 1999 9 Oct. (Weekend Suppl.) p. ix/6 Kolakowski does not think we have reached the end of history just because the social market had become so widely established. 2001 (Nexis) 19 Dec. a21 The end-of-history theory was understandably infuriating to those whose sweeping ideas lost the gladiatorial battles, whether it was global communism or,..an imperialist version of Islam. 2008 June 16/1 Bush's hopes for vindication depend on the Middle East's following a gradual, Fukuyaman track toward free markets, democratic government, and the ‘end of history’. P2. Proverbial phrases. 1823 tr. E.-A.-D. de Las Cases IV. 223 Mais qu'est alors cette vérité historique, la plupart de temps? Une fable convenue.] 1823 tr. E.-A.-D. de Las Cases IV. vii. 251 Said the Emperor to me to-day... ‘What then is, generally speaking, the truth of history? A fable agreed upon.’ 1841 R. W. Emerson 1st Ser. i. 8 ‘What is history,’ said Napoleon, ‘but a fable agreed upon?’ 1859 L. Sabine 57 One is often reminded of the remark attributed to Napoleon: ‘History is but fable agreed upon’. 1925 19 Apr. 24/4 If history is a fable agreed upon, politics is a fable not agreed upon. 1968 2 49/1 Has our history been a ‘fable agreed upon’ to rationalize racial oppression? 2009 A. Lawson 34 ‘History is but a fable agreed upon,’ said the old man. 1842 A. G. Comte de Saint-Priest II. v. ii. 42 L'histore est juste peut-être, mais qu'on ne l'oublie pas, elle a été écrite par les vainqueurs.] 1844 tr. L. Blanc in G. S. Smythe (ed. 2) 307 Vanquished—his history written by the victors—Robespierre has left a memory accursed. 1903 H. W. Thomas p. ix It is an old saying, that the victor writes the history of a struggle. 1936 C. Delisle Burns in 46 419 The traditional belief in the benefits derived from war is supported by bad history, for all history is written by the victors! 1944 ‘G. Orwell’ in 4 Feb. 11/12 In each case you get a number of totally incompatible answers, one of which is finally adopted as the result of a physical struggle. History is written by the winners. 1995 C. Sagan xiv. 252 History is generally written by the victors to justify their actions, to arouse patriotic fervor, and to suppress the legitimate claims of the vanquished. 2011 (Nexis) 1 July If history is written by the winners, biography belongs to the survivors. 1916 H. Ford in 25 May 10/1 History is more or less bunk. 1932 A. Huxley iii. 38 That beautiful and inspired saying of Our Ford's: History is bunk. 1979 F. Schiller vii. 109 If history is bunk, modern historians love and live to debunk it. 2010 (Nexis) 26 Sept. 7 To a 21-year old, history is bunk. Compounds C1. General attributive and objective. a. (In senses 1a and 2.) 1828 Sept. 78 Have you learned your history lesson for to-morrow? 1915 25 Mar. 7/6 I recommend that troops in rest billets should be given stirring history lessons. 2003 M. Ali xii. 207 For his history lesson your son will be studying Africa or India. 1728 P. Padwell To Pretty Miss Polly Peachum in C. Bullock (ed. 2) sig. A5 Pray retain in your Memory what the honest Cobler says in Sir Fopling Flutter—Ale and History Master.] 1842 tr. B. von Armin in Mar. 162/2 The history-master [Ger. der Geschichtslehrer] comes thrice a-week. 1911 Dec. 448/2 This does not mean that a history master should spend his evenings in reading and correcting papers which would only be thrown aside afterwards. 2010 (Nexis) 10 June 12 My history master was very traditional. 1889 ‘M. Twain’ iv. 55 Sir Kay..began to fire up on his history-mill, with me for fuel. 1963 11 Jan. 29/1 Grist to some history-mill. 1767 in R. Clarke 6 Provided they do not thereby any Injury to their own Souls, by being meer History-Mongers. 1845 W. Cory (1897) 37 I could get a sure living as a journeyman history-monger. 1989 14 95 The threatened independence of the literary imagination under assault from history-mongers. 1844 48 The History paper given to the 2nd class was a difficult one, but was well answered by the best half of the boys. 1937 Mar. 447 In the Punjab..only 3 and 4 per cent. of the candidates for Matriculation answered their history papers in Hindi and Gurmukhi respectively. 2005 28 Apr. 27/2 We were convinced that one candidate had had one of his A2 history papers mis-marked. 1642 T. Fuller ii. xxiii. 148 His [sc. William Camden's] liberality to Learning is sufficiently witnessed in his Founding of an History-Professour in Oxford. 1797 L. W. Brüggemann 730 William Iameson, History Professor in the University of Glasgow. 1855 Nov. 32 The History Professor would make it his business,..to bring before his class, first, all that can now be known of the manufacturing arts of ancient nations. 2006 5 Oct. 50/2 The pipsqueak pundits..bray that literature and history professors are self-indulgent theory mavens. 1752 N. Rowe in (new ed.) I. Acct. Mr. la Bruyere p. i He was..appointed History-teacher to the Dauphin. 1884 4 Nov. The present history teacher of the Normal proper had resigned. 1930 31 106 They wrote not to win the praise of the history teacher but to express the interest which had been engendered in them. 2002 Nov. 79/2 To get my own back, I sent a love poem to our history teacher and signed it from him. eOE tr. Orosius (BL Add.) (1980) ii. i. 37 Ealle stærwriteras secgað þæt Asiria rice æt Ninuse begunne, & Romana rice æt Procose begunne.] 1550 W. Lynne tr. J. Carion iii. f. cxviv By Cornelius Tacitus the history writer they are highly praised. 1652 A. Burgess iii. xxix. 169 Not..because they believe the Scripture for the Authority of the History-writer. 1764 8 The trifling Anecdotes that the most eminent History-Writers often swell their Works with. 1853 J. Sinnett i. 2 All the history-writers that have ever lived could not have written down all that happens in the world for one single day. 1926 July 267/1 The prolific history-writers of Massachusetts. 2008 (Nexis) 17 Dec. 1 I consider myself more of a history writer than a historian. 1758 May 239/1 His history has the merit of being destitute of all the rules that have been laid down for history-writing. 1893 Oct. 745 The routine history-writing, the correspondence..[etc.], make so many demands on the physician's time. 1981 R. Dawson ii. 14 Chinese history-writing had twin ideals: the past should be thoroughly transmitted, and the past should be used to understand the present. 2003 12 June 28/4 So much history writing has abandoned causal, storybook..narrative for postmodern nonlinearity, skepticism, relativism, flash, and indeterminacy. b. (In sense 5.) society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > historical painting > painter 1658 W. Sanderson 18 Excellent History Painters. 1783 M. Berry 7 Jan. (1865) I. 71 Went..to Mr. Dermot's, a history-painter. 1847 20 Feb. 241 A genre painter that carried that species of art..as far as it must be carried to be satisfactory to a sound critic, would lack in no quality desirable for a history painter. 1953 4 Aug. 8/3 The botanists..remained indifferent to the grand and generalizing style of the history painters. 2006 64 4/1 This extra apprenticeship period..reveals his determination to become a history painter. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > historical painting 1675 E. Phillips (new ed.) Pref. sig. **6v A curious piece of History painting. 1790 S. Ireland I. xi. 148 Mr. Biiys, excellent in history painting, and a director of the academy. 1862 7 June 8/4 History painting..threatens to become biographical. 2004 26 Sept. h2/6 History painting..went out of vogue with the advent of modernism. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > historical painting > a historical painting 1683 J. Dryden Life Plutarch 91 in J. Dryden et al. tr. Plutarch I A History-piece of many figures. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1773 I. 407 Johnson: Robertson paints minds as Sir Joshua paints faces in a history-piece. 1829 27 Apr. 3/1 It is a history piece in miniature, and partakes alike of the painter's peculiar merits and defects. 1991 4 225/1 Painters exhibited large history-pieces which no one wanted to buy. C2. the mind > mental capacity > belief > [noun] > a belief, dogma, tenet > concerned with historical fact 1531 W. Tyndale sig. B.vj Let this therfore be an vndoubted article of thy faythe, not of an historie faithe as thoue beleuest a gest of Alexandre. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important > others 1733 N. Salmon iii. 215 Ferguson, of plotting memory, has spoke the Sense of his brother History-makers. 1848 New Ser. 1 397/2 Men who may be termed the history-makers—men who have stood out in bold relief from their fellows, and have rendered their nations famous through their own individual activities. 2010 (Nexis) 28 Sept. b1 Those were days when you saw little of the history-makers beyond black-and-white photos in a newspaper or grainy highlights on TV. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > worthy of notice > historic the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > performing important events 1838 6 Oct. 721/1 Americans..possess a decent pedigree of three centuries and a half; and..for the last two of these centuries they have been an active and history-making people. 1873 IV. 472/2 As an incipient effort in the art of history making, it [sc. Confucius's history of Lu, his native state] appears to have called forth much admiration and eulogium in early times. 1944 Z. N. Hurston Let. 1 Oct. in (2002) 507 Some truly wonderful and history-making things which we may work on. 1962 W. H. Auden (1963) 278 Man is a history-making creature. 1999 1 Dec. i. 2/1 Northern Ireland's disparate new cabinet settled into office yesterday after all the history-making of Monday. 1909 30 Oct. 7/6 Never before probably were so many varieties of feminine historical costumes seen as were represented in the history pageant. 1921 116 The helping teacher praised excellent work in the June history pageant. 2008 (Nexis) 26 May 10 We are proud of the Gloucestershire Regiment and a history pageant without them would be ridiculous, as would missing our medieval past. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play 1850 Feb. 48 The drama I lay at your feet,..is not a history-play: it is a tragedy. 1957 N. Frye iv. 283 The Elizabethan secular auto eventually became the history-play. 2007 6 July w5/1 The 31 history plays and 10 religious dramas that are performed each summer in outdoor theaters all over America. 1866 Jan. 349 The man's history does not furnish any clue to the origin of the disease. History sheet shows him as having been under treatment several times, for venereal affections. 1887 6 Sept. 2/4 They have written up the history sheets of 132 paupers. 1908 July (India Office Rec. P7875) Agamya Guru Paramahansa, history sheet of. 1954 J. C. Spencer x. 260 Only rarely..does the ex-Borstal boy complain that his past history follows him into his regiment. He starts with a clean history-sheet. 1984 8 Nov. c2/1 My journal from last summer when I worked in the hospital: history sheets meant for patients' records covered instead with disjointed fragments. 2009 J. Y. Umranikar ii. 165 The names of absconders and wanted criminals with their history sheets and photographs should also be available. 1940 13 July 133 Holi Ahir is a B class history-sheeter and a bully, and given to every sort of crime. 1988 S. Rushdie v. 194 Here it is the human race that is the undertrial, and it is a defendant with a rotten record: a history-sheeter, a bad egg. 2005 (Nexis) 20 June Policemen checked on the addresses of all wanted criminals and history-sheeters. 1898 (Univ. Pennsylvania) Nov. 77 The habit of history-taking and recording of minute points is of the greatest possible importance. It familiarizes the physician with the particulars of the case. 1967 113 610/2 It is obvious that in many cases, spontaneous remissions may have been overlooked in history-taking or attributed to the treatment used. 2002 27 586/2 Mental retardation or any neuro-muscular or gastrointestinal dysfunction discernible through history taking or physical examination. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022). historyv. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French historier. Etymology: < Middle French historier to write (a history book or chronicle), to decorate with depictions of historical events (both end of the 14th cent.) < post-classical Latin historiare (also historiari , deponent) to seek by questioning (5th cent.), to record, relate (6th cent.), to decorate with historical scenes (15th cent.) < classical Latin historia history n. Compare Catalan historiar (1479), Spanish historiar (c1400), Portuguese historiar (14th cent.).The earliest examples of post-classical Latin historiare are in works translating Greek sources, where the original text has forms of ancient Greek ἱστορεῖν to inquire, in Hellenistic Greek also to record. society > communication > record > written record > historical record or chronicle > record in history or chronicle [verb (transitive)] the mind > language > speech > narration > narrate, relate, or tell [verb (transitive)] c1475 (?c1451) (Royal) (1860) 13 (MED) As in the 39 chapitre of the Actis of the said King Philip more plainly is historied. 1502 tr. (de Worde) Epil. sig. tt.iii v Newely hystoryed and translated out of Frenshe in to Englysshe. 1570 J. Foxe (rev. ed.) II. 2283/1 This persecutyng tyme of Queene Mary in this our Realme of England: as partly hath bene already historyed, and part yet remaineth..moreouer hereunto to be added. 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 201 And keepe no tel-tale to his memorie, That may repeate, and history his losse, To new remembrance. View more context for this quotation 1659 T. Palmer 150 It is Historied, that when the Church was met upon the death of Pontanus, for a new Election, a Dove setled upon the head of Anterus, [etc.]. 1766 ‘C. Tell-truth’ II. 96 The grand M'Carthy's of the county of Kerry, whose noble actions and exploits..will never be forgotten..but raised, historied, and enobled. 1846 Sept. 40/2 Even the most insignificant particulars, masons' bills, workmen's names, are historied with provoking industry and smile-provoking gravity. 1883 4 128 Such sins you will not find historied here. 1914 Mar. 310 Balboa is said to have contemplated a waterway connecting the two vast oceans; and his Spanish sovereign is historied to have entertained the scheme. 2001 S. Grace i. ii. 58 Our historians began to focus more critically on the question of the North by stepping back far enough..to see how the North was historied in the nineteenth century. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > pattern [verb (transitive)] > historical or legendary 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay ii. xvi. f. 50v A great Colomne of Marbre historied [Fr. historiee] after the maner of those of Antonin and Adrian..at Rome. 1670 S. Wilson (new ed.) i. 228 Its three brazen dores [are] historyed with a fine basso relieuo. 1722 tr. F. Raguenet xxx. 139 The Ornaments with which other Gates are sometimes covered and historied over. 1920 G. G. King 340 The great capitals on the coupled shafts are historied all around, commencing all on the garden side. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.eOE v.c1475 |
