See also antiquity; 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 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.
