History Means Inquiry, Not the Past
History is the study of the past and the record of it. The Greek word behind it means investigation, which changes how you read the word.
History is the past as it has been investigated and written down. The distinction matters, and the Greek makes it: *historia* means inquiry or research. The past simply happened; history is what someone found out about it and chose to record.
- The study or record of past events. *She reads history.*
- Past events themselves. *A town with a long history.*
- A record of something. *Medical history.*
- Browser history — the record of pages visited. *Clear your history.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | history | Ancient history. |
| Plural | histories | Family histories. |
| Adjective | historical | A historical document. |
| Adjective | historic | A historic decision. |
| Person | historian | A military historian. |
How it is used in a sentence
- He teaches history at the university.The subject, uncountable.
- The building has a complicated history.Countable, the record of one thing.
- That is ancient history now.Meaning no longer relevant.
Historic or historical?
- Historic — important enough to be remembered
- Historical — belonging to the past, or dealing with history
- Prehistoric — before written records
- Chronicle — a record in order of time
- Historiography — the study of how history itself is written
From Greek *historia*, inquiry or knowledge gained by investigation, through Latin and Old French. Herodotus called his book *Historiai* — inquiries — and the name of the whole discipline followed.
Historic or historical?
A historic day is a significant one. A historical novel is one set in the past. Only the first is a compliment.
A history or an history?
A history. The h is pronounced in modern English, so the older an is now old-fashioned.