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Glite Dictionary
historical school

historical school

9.9
A group of 19th-century German thinkers who explain law and economy as changing over time
  • noun
  • /hɪˈstɔrɪkəl skul/
  • Formal
translation icon : escuela histórica
  • The historical school of thought emphasizes the importance of context in understanding economic systems.

Examples

  • Scholars from the historical school argue that legal systems evolve over time influenced by cultural factors.

  • The theoretical work of trade economists, the insights of the business-historical school, the work of historians of science and technology, and the contributions of experts in industrial organization have all enriched our understanding of how wealth is created in a market-based economy.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Many economists today still reference the principles established by the historical school to analyze modern practices.

Synonyms

historicism
vshistorical school
  • Formal
1 9.6

The idea that society and culture are shaped by events in the past

is a specific 19th century German group applying that view to economics and law

Surface Forms

historical school singular
historical schools plural

Morphology

historical + school

The meaning — a group of thinkers or an intellectual movement characterized by a historical approach — is directly and predictably derived from 'historical' (relating to development across time) + 'school' (a group or tradition of thinkers). The compositional pattern 'X school' meaning 'a school of thought characterized by X' is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer this meaning.

Etymology

The term historical school comes from a group of thinkers who focused on the past: historical means about the past and school means a group with the same ideas. They believed laws and economies grow and change over time, so historical school means a group that explains systems 'by looking at their history'.