Etymology

The term history entered the English language in 1390, with the meaning of "relation of
incidents, story" via the Old French historie, from Latin historia, "narrative, account." This itself
was derived from the Ancient Greek ἱστορία, historía, meaning "a learning or knowing by
inquiry, history, record, narrative," from the verb ἱστορεῖν, historeîn, "to inquire."

This, in turn, was derived from ἵστωρ, hístōr ("wise man," "witness," or "judge"). Early
attestations of ἵστωρ are from the Homeric Hymns, Heraclitus, the Athenian ephebes' oath, and
from Boiotic inscriptions (in a legal sense, either "judge" or "witness," or similar). The spirant is
problematic, and not present in cognate Greek eídomai ("to appear").