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History vocabulary · Sources and Archives

Chronicle

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈkrɒnɪkl/nounCommon term

In history, chronicle means: A written account of historical events arranged in the order in which they happened, usually composed during or soon after the period it describes.

In Turkish: vakayiname, kronik, tarih

How it is used

Many medieval and Ottoman histories are chronicles: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the chronicle of Aşıkpaşazade. The writer is a chronicler. As a verb, chronicle means to record events in detail: The book chronicles the life of the city.

Example sentences

  1. Aşıkpaşazade's chronicle is one of the earliest Ottoman histories.

  2. The chronicler clearly admired the sultan, so read his praise with care.

Common collocations

  • medieval chronicle
  • a contemporary chronicle
  • court chronicler
  • chronicle the events
  • manuscriptA book or document written by hand, especially one produced before printing became common; also an author's text before it is published.
  • primary sourceEvidence created at the time being studied or by people who witnessed it, such as letters, diaries, official records, photographs or objects.
  • biasA one-sided view that makes a source or a writer favour one person, group or explanation, so that the account is not fully balanced or complete.
  • chronologyThe order in which events happened, or a list or table that sets out events and their dates in that order.

More terms: Sources and Archives

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