Historicize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To interpret or represent something by relating it to its historical context or development
2. To analyze or describe an event, idea, or object by considering its position in history
3. To view or treat a subject with attention to its historical background and influences

Etymology: "Historicize" is a plain formation: English "historic" plus the suffix "-ize," meaning to make or to treat as something. The suffix itself has a long pedigree, passing from Ancient Greek "-izein" through Late Latin "-izare" and Middle French "-iser" into Middle English before reaching its modern form. The root "historic" comes from Latin "historicus," which borrowed the Greek "historia," meaning inquiry or knowledge gained by investigation rather than a record of past events. That Greek root has a surprising origin of its own. "Historia" descends from "histor," a word meaning "knowing" or "one who has seen," which goes back to the same Indo-European root as the English "wit." So the historian was originally a witness or inquirer, someone who had found things out, long before the word meant a chronicle of the past. "Historicize" is the verb form: to place something in its historical context, or to treat an idea, text or event as the product of its time. The word is built directly on "historic" in English rather than inherited from Greek or Latin.

Synonyms: chronicle, document

Antonyms: ignore, neglect