Revised 2012
historiannoun & adjective
Factsheet
What does the word historian mean?
There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the word historian, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the word historian?
About 30occurrences per million words in modern written English
1750 | 31 |
1760 | 61 |
1770 | 60 |
1780 | 66 |
1790 | 49 |
1800 | 51 |
1810 | 49 |
1820 | 51 |
1830 | 40 |
1840 | 42 |
1850 | 39 |
1860 | 32 |
1870 | 29 |
1880 | 28 |
1890 | 28 |
1900 | 26 |
1910 | 21 |
1920 | 23 |
1930 | 25 |
1940 | 24 |
1950 | 28 |
1960 | 33 |
1970 | 31 |
1980 | 27 |
1990 | 30 |
2000 | 30 |
2010 | 30 |
How is the word historian pronounced?
British English
/hɪˈstɔːrɪən/
hiss-TOR-ee-uhn
U.S. English
/hɪˈstɔriən/
hiss-TOR-ee-uhn
Where does the word historian come from?
Earliest known use
Middle English
The earliest known use of the word historian is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).
OED's earliest evidence for historian is from before 1439, in the writing of John Lydgate, poet and prior of Hatfield Regis.
historian is a borrowing from French.
Etymons: French historien.
Nearby entries
- histopathologically, adv.?1880–
- histopathologist, n.1872–
- histopathology, n.1874–
- histophyly, n.1879
- histophysics, n.1886–
- histophysiological, adj.1885–
- histophysiology, n.1878–
- histoplasmin, n.1945–
- histoplasmosis, n.1907–
- historial, adj. & n.c1395–
- historian, n. & adj.?a1439–
- historianess, n.1683–
- historiaster, n.1736–
- historiate, v.1780–
- historiated, adj.1849–
- historic, n. & adj.1566–
- historical, adj. & n.?a1475–
- historical cost, n.1894–
- historical cost accounting, n.1929–
- historical cost convention, n.1937–
- historical criticism, n.1658–
Etymology
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Meaning & use
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Pronunciation
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Forms
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Frequency
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Compounds & derived words
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Entry history for historian, n. & adj.
historian, n. & adj. was revised in March 2012.
historian, n. & adj. was last modified in July 2023.
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into historian, n. & adj. in July 2023.
Earlier versions of this entry were published in:
OED First Edition (1898)
OED Second Edition (1989)
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Citation details
Factsheet for historian, n. & adj.
Browse entry
Nearby entries
- histopathologically, adv.?1880–
- histopathologist, n.1872–
- histopathology, n.1874–
- histophyly, n.1879
- histophysics, n.1886–
- histophysiological, adj.1885–
- histophysiology, n.1878–
- histoplasmin, n.1945–
- histoplasmosis, n.1907–
- historial, adj. & n.c1395–
- historian, n. & adj.?a1439–
- historianess, n.1683–
- historiaster, n.1736–
- historiate, v.1780–
- historiated, adj.1849–
- historic, n. & adj.1566–
- historical, adj. & n.?a1475–
- historical cost, n.1894–
- historical cost accounting, n.1929–
- historical cost convention, n.1937–
- historical criticism, n.1658–