story
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”), from ῐ̔στορέω (historéō, “I inquire”), from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “one who knows, wise one”), from Proto-Hellenic *wístōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wéydtōr (“knower, wise person”), from *weyd- (“to see”). 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.
- Synonym: tome
- 1673, William Temple, An Essay upon the Advancement of Trade in Ireland
- it must be exploded for fabulous, with other relics of ancient story.
- June 1861, Edinburgh Review, The Kingdom of Italy
- Venice, with its unique city and its impressive 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.
- A lie, fiction.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lie
- You’ve been telling stories again, haven’t you?
- (US, colloquial, usually pluralized) A soap opera.
- Synonym: serial
- What will she do without being able to watch her stories?
- 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things
- He stood on the doorstep for a minute, listening for sounds inside the house — a radio, a TV tuned to one of the stories […]
- (obsolete) History.
- 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica:
- A sequence of events, or a situation, such as might be related in an account.
- Synonym: narrative
- 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.
- (social media) A chronological collection of pictures or short videos published by a user on an application or website that is typically only available for a short period.
- stop posting entire concerts on your story[1]
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.
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- → Welsh: stori
TranslationsEdit
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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.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene v]:
- How worthy he is I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.
- 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick
- It is storied of the brazen colossus in Rhodes, that it was seventy cubits high.
Etymology 2Edit
Probably as etymology 1, since historia already had this meaning in medieval Anglo-Latin (see Etymonline). An alternative suggestion derives it from Old French *estoree (“a thing built, a building”), from estoree (“built”), feminine past participle of estorer (“to build”), from Latin instauro (“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
TranslationsEdit
Usage notesEdit
See storey.
AnagramsEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Borrowed from Old French estoree, past participle of estorer. Alternatively, the same word as storie.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
story (plural storyes) (rare)
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “stōrī(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2Edit
From Old French estorie, estoire.
VerbEdit
story
- Alternative form of storie