Etymology
1. 1390, "relation of incidents" (true or false), from O.Fr.
historie, from L.
historia "narrative, account, tale, story," from Gk.
historia "a learning or knowing by inquiry, history, record, narrative," from
historein "inquire," from
histor "wise man, judge," from PIE
*wid-tor-, from base
*weid- "to know," lit. "to see" (see vision). Related to Gk.
idein "to see," and to
eidenai "to know." In M.E., not differentiated from
story; sense of "record of past events" probably first attested 1485. Sense of "systematic account (without reference to time) of a set of natural phenomena" (1567) is now obs. except in
natural history. What is
historic (1669) is noted or celebrated in history; what is
historical (1561) deals with history.
Historian "writer of history in the higher sense," distinguished from a mere annalist or chronicler, is from 1531.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *weyd-
4. Proto-Indo-European *-tōr
5. Proto-Indo-European *wéydtōr
6. Proto-Hellenic *wístōr
7. Ancient Greek ῐ̔́στωρ (hĭ́stōr)
8. Proto-Indo-European *-eti
9. Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti
10. Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti
11. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
12. Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
13. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti
14. Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
15. Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
16. Ancient Greek -έω (-éō)
17. Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορέω (hĭstoréō)
18. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
19. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
20. Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
21. Proto-Hellenic *-íā
22. Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)
23. Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (hĭstorĭ́ā)bor.
24. Latin historiader.
25. Old French estoire
26. Old French estorie
27. Old French historiebor.
28. Middle English historie
29. English history
30. From Middle English historie, from Old French estoire, estorie (“chronicle, history, story”) (French histoire), from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ἱστορίᾱ (historíā, “learning through research”), from ἱστορέω (historéō, “to research, inquire (and) record”), from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “the knowing, wise one”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Doublet of story and storey.
31. Attested in Middle English in 1393 by John Gower, Confessio Amantis, which was aimed at an educated audience familiar with French and Latin. See: French '
histoire'.