a branch of knowledge that records and interprets past events
past events considered as a whole
Does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce? No, it's too grand, too considered a process. History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago — Julian Barnes, referring to Karl Marx
an account of past events
a history of the university
a person's medical, sociological, etc background
an unusual or interesting past
a treatise presenting systematically related natural phenomena
be history
informal to be finished, dead, etc
History as a branch of knowledge deals not just with events, but also with conditions of life, structures of society, politics, culture and the economy, the environment, and almost anything else as long as it is located in the past. It is distinguished from chronicle by its attempt to interpret the past and from biography in its focus on collectivities rather than individuals; some historians would also argue that it is distinguished from legal and moral approaches to the past by prioritizing rational understanding over judgment or the assignment of blame and praise: ‘The study of history is the study of causes’ (E H Carr) – Richard J Evans
[via Latin from Greek historia enquiry, history, from histōr, istōr knowing, learned]