- history
- [[t]hɪ̱stəri[/t]]
♦histories1) N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp You can refer to the events of the past as history. You can also refer to the past events which concern a particular topic or place as its history.
The Catholic Church has played a prominent role throughout Polish history.
...the most evil mass killer in history.
...the history of Birmingham.
...religious history.
●PHRASE: V inflects Someone who makes history does something that is considered to be important and significant in the development of the world or of a particular society.Willy Brandt made history by visiting East Germany in 1970.
PHRASE: V inflects If someone or something goes down in history, people in the future remember them because of particular actions that they have done or because of particular events that have happened.Bradley will go down in history as Los Angeles' longest serving mayor.
...a day that will go down in history.
2) N-UNCOUNT History is a subject studied in schools, colleges, and universities that deals with events that have happened in the past....his magnificent history of broadcasting in Canada.
...oral histories taken from elderly people in Rochester.
4) N-COUNT: usu sing, usu a N of n/-ing If a person or a place has a history of something, it has been very common or has happened frequently in their past.He had a history of drink problems...
The boy's mother had a history of abusing her children.
Syn:He couldn't get a new job because of his medical history.
...an exhibition documenting the personal history of Anne Frank.
6) N-UNCOUNT If you say that an event, thing, or person is history, you mean that they are no longer important.The Charlottetown agreement is history.
7) PHRASE If you are telling someone about an event and say the rest is history, you mean that you do not need to tell them what happened next because everyone knows about it already.We met at college, the rest is history.
8) → See also natural history
English dictionary. 2008.
