history

Use the word "history" to talk about things that happened in the past:

• The young man has a history of getting into trouble with the law.
• Lashonda’s medical history includes allergies and a few bouts of pneumonia.
• Edgar told the doctor he has a family history of cancer. That means that many people in his family have been diagnosed with cancer in the past.
• The storm moving through our area has a history of large hail and strong winds.

The word "history" is most often used when talking about an academic subject.

• Tanya loves to read about history.
• She’s particularly interested in Greek and Roman history.
• Tanya is thinking about becoming a history major in college.

The words "historic" and "historical" are adjectives:

• It’s important to study historical events because we can learn from what happened in the past.
• The team’s championship season was historic. No other team had ever won as many games.

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Date of publication: September 13, 2016