Okuzeka
History vocabulary · Periods and Eras

Ancient

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈeɪnʃənt/adjectiveCore term

In history, ancient means: Belonging to the very distant past, especially to the period before the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD.

In Turkish: antik, eski çağa ait, kadim

How it is used

In history it often has a technical sense: ancient history, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, the ancient world. In everyday English it can simply mean very old (an ancient tree). Older writing uses the ancients for Greek and Roman authors.

Example sentences

  1. She teaches ancient history with a focus on Greek city-states.

  2. Ancient Egyptian scribes recorded harvests and taxes on papyrus.

Common collocations

  • ancient history
  • the ancient world
  • ancient Greece
  • ancient ruins
  • ancient civilizations
  • antiquityThe ancient past, especially the age of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations before the Middle Ages; also an object surviving from that time.
  • civilizationA complex society with cities, written records, organised government and specialised work, or the culture and way of life of a particular people or region.
  • prehistoryThe long period of human history before writing was invented, known mainly through archaeology, fossils and other physical remains.
  • Middle AgesThe period of European history between the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century and roughly the late fifteenth century.

More terms: Periods and Eras

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