story
See also: Story
Contents
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English storie, storye, from Anglo-Norman estorie, from Late Latin storia, an aphetic form of Latin historia (“history; story”), from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía, “history”). Compare history and storey (“floor of a building”).
Alternative formsEdit
- storie (obsolete)
NounEdit
story (plural stories)
- A sequence of real or fictional events; or, an account of such a sequence.
- Ed. Rev.
- Venice, with its unique city and its impressive story
- Sir W. Temple
- The four great monarchies make the subject of ancient story.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
- The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.
- 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
- Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
- The book tells the story of two roommates.
- Ed. Rev.
- A lie, fiction.
- You’ve been telling stories again, haven’t you?
- (US, colloquial, usually pluralized) A soap opera.
- What will she do without being able to watch her stories?
- (obsolete) History.
- 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica:
- A sequence of events, or a situation, such as might be related in an account.
- What's the story with him?
- I tried it again; same story, no error message, nothing happened.
- The images it captured help tell a story of extreme loss: 25 percent of its ice and four of its 19 glaciers have disappeared since 1957.
- (Internet, Snapchat) A temporary collection of a user's recently publicized snaps.
Usage notesEdit
- (soap opera): Popularized in the 1950s, when soap operas were often billed as "continuing stories", the term "story" to describe a soap opera fell into disuse by the 21st century and is now used chiefly among older people and in rural areas. Other English-speaking countries used the term at its zenith as a "loaned" word from the United States.
SynonymsEdit
- (account): tome
- (lie): See lie
- (soap opera): soap opera, serial
- (sequence of events; situtation): narrative
Derived termsEdit
terms derived from story
DescendantsEdit
- → Welsh: stori
TranslationsEdit
account of events
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lie — see lie
storey — see storey
VerbEdit
story (third-person singular simple present stories, present participle storying, simple past and past participle storied)
- To tell as a story; to relate or narrate about.
- Shakespeare
- How worthy he is I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.
- Bishop Wilkins
- It is storied of the brazen colossus in Rhodes, that it was seventy cubits high.
- Shakespeare
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English story, from Old French *estoree (“a thing built, a building”), from estoree (“built”), feminine past participle of estorer (“to build”), from Latin instaurare (“to construct, build, erect”).
Alternative formsEdit
- storey (UK)
NounEdit
story (plural stories)
- (obsolete) A building or edifice.
- (chiefly US) A floor or level of a building; a storey.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, chapter I:
- The lower story of the market-house was open on all four of its sides to the public square.
- Our shop was on the fourth story of the building, so we had to install an elevator.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, chapter I:
- (typography) Alternative form of storey