History

History, his′to-ri, n. an account of an event: a systematic account of the origin and progress of a nation: the knowledge of facts, events, &c.: an eventful life, a past of more than common interest, as a 'woman with a history:' a drama representing historical events.—v.t. (rare) to record.—n. His′tōrian, a writer of history.—adjs. Histō′riāted, adorned with figures, esp. of men or animals, as the medieval illuminated manuscripts, capital letters, initials &c.; Histor′ic, -al, pertaining to history: containing history: derived from history: famous in history: authentic.—adv. Histor′ically.—v.t. and v.i. Histor′icise, to make, or represent as, historic.—ns. Historic′ity, historical character; Historiette′, a short history or story.—v.t. Histor′ify, to record in history.—n. Historiog′rapher, a writer of history: a professed or official historian.—adjs. Historiograph′ic, -al, pertaining to the writing of history.—adv. Historiograph′ically.—ns. Historiog′raphy, the art or employment of writing history; Historiol′ogy, the knowledge or study of history.—Historical method, the study of a subject in its historical development; Historical painting, the painting of historic scenes, or scenes in which historic figures are introduced; Historical present, the present tense used for the past, to add life and reality to the narrative, as in 'cometh' in Mark, v. 22.—Ancient history, the history of the world down to the fall of Rome, 476 A.D.; Medieval history, the history of the period between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the 16th century; Modern history, history since the beginning of the 16th century; Natural history, originally an expression including all the concrete sciences, now the science of living things: (in frequent use) zoology, esp. in so far as that is concerned with the life and habits of animals; Profane, Secular, history, the history of secular affairs as opposed to Sacred history, which deals with the events in the Bible narrative. [L.,—Gr. historia—histōr, knowing; cf. eidenai, to know, L. vidēre, Sans. vid, Eng. wit.]