207. History

See also 18. ANTIQUITY ; 308. PAST

annalist

one who chronicles yearly events; a writer of annals.

chronography

Obsolete, the recording or study of past events.

cliometrics

the application of mathematics, especially statistics, to the study of history. —cliometrician , n .

cyclicism

the belief that history repeats itself, as suggested in the writings of Arnold Toynbee. Also cyclicity . —cyclic , adj.

genealogy

1. a record or account of the ancestry and descent of a person, family, or group.

2. the study of family ancestries or histories.

3. descent from an original form or progenitor; lineage. —genealogist , n. —genealogie, genealogical , adj.

heroology

a work on heroes and their history. —heroologist , n. —heroological , adj.

historicism

1. a theory that history is determined by immutable laws.

2. a theory that all cultural phenomena are historically determined and that all historians should study a period on its own merits.

3. a search for the laws of historical evolution.

4. a profound or an excessive respect for historical institutions, as traditions or laws. Also historism . —historicist , n., adj.

historiography

1. the body of literature concerned with historical matters.

2. the methods of historical research and presentation.

3. an official history. —historiographer , n . —historiographic, historiographical , adj.

historiology

the study or knowledge of history.

historism

historicism.

medievalist

1. an expert in medieval history, literature, art, architecture, etc.

2. a person devoted to the art, culture, or spirit of the Middle Ages.

monism

the theory that there is only one causal factor in history, as intellect or nature. —monist , n . —monistic , adj.

Orientalist

a specialist in Oriental history, art, literature, etc.

prosopography

1. a biographical sketch containing a description of a person’s appearance, qualities, and history.

2. a collection of such sketches. — prosopographer , n. See also 149. FACIAL FEATURES .

protohistory

the earliest period of history, before the time when records were kept. —protohistorical , adj.

revisionism

a movement to reexamine historical information in the light of current knowledge. —revisionist , n., adj.