history
noun
Simple meaning
The aggregate of past events.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
histereeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhɪstɚi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The aggregate of past events
The discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings
The continuum of events occurring in succession leading from the past to the present and even into the future
The empirical study of past events, as distinct from literature, myth, or scripture; the assessment of notable events.
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 (prehistory).
All that is remembered of the past as preserved in writing; a body of knowledge
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The aggregate of past events
Used this way, history is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use history
- “A critical time in the school's history.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to The aggregate of past events.
Throughout history.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The academic department responsible for teaching history.
A lesson in the facts of history.
Detailed record of the background of a person or group under study or treatment.
Part of a patient's medical history in which questions are asked in an attempt to find out whether the patient has hereditary tendencies toward particular diseases.
An account of the series of events making up a person's life.
The case history of a medical patient as recalled by the patient.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A person who is an authority on history and who studies it and writes about it.
The writing of history.
An era of history having some distinctive feature.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “history” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.