history

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The aggregate of past events, both unrecorded and recorded.

   “The history of mammals stretches back many millions of years.”

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

   “He dreams of an invention that will make history.”

   “With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.”

   “Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?”

2. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “History and experience act as a filter that can distort as much as elucidate. It is largely forgotten now, overlooked in the one-line description of Tony Blair and George W Bush as the men who lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, but there was a wider context to their conviction.”

3. (countable, uncountable)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”

   “in all of human history and prehistory”

   “since the dawn of history”

4. (countable)A set of events involving an entity.

   “a long and sordid history”

   “What is your medical history?”

   “The family's history includes events best forgotten.”

   “[I]n the 575 days since [Oscar] Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, there has been an unseemly scramble to construct revisionist histories, to identify evidence beneath that placid exterior of a pugnacious, hair-trigger personality.”

5. (countable)A record or narrative description of past events.

   “I really enjoyed Shakespeare's tragedies more than his histories.”

   “a short history of post-Columbian colonization”

   “Thucydides wrote a history of the Peleponnesian War that uses different sources than Herodotus' work.”

6. (countable)A list of past and continuing medical conditions of an individual or family.

   “A personal medical history is required for the insurance policy.”

   “He has a history of cancer in his family.”

   “This diagnosis is usually based solely on the history and physical examination, although laboratory tests are occasionally also obtained.”

7. (countable)A record of previous user events, especially of visited web pages in a browser.

   “I visited a great site yesterday but forgot the URL. Luckily, I didn't clear my history.”

   “When you do that, the browser window has no browser history, so it doesn't report a referrer page to the first site you visit.”

8. (countable, informal, uncountable)Something that no longer exists or is no longer relevant.

   “I told him that if he doesn't get his act together, he's history.”

9. (uncountable)Shared experience or interaction.

   “There is too much history between them for them to split up now.”

   “He has had a lot of history with the police.”

10. (uncountable)A historically significant event.

    “You are witnessing history!”

    “We have a new president: Barack Obama. I never thought a black man would be elected. It's exciting! It's history!”

verb

1. (obsolete)To narrate or record.

   “And therefore will hee wipe his Tables cleane, And keepe no Tell-tale to his Memorie, That may repeat, and Historie his losse”