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historical record

historical record

18 3.3
A written document that gives reliable information about past events
  • noun
  • /hɪˈstɔrɪkəl ˈrɛkərd/
translation icon : registro histórico
  • The historical record is much the same on wages, labor unions, and collective bargaining.
  • historical record shows
  • gap in the historical record
  • local historical record

There isn't any historical record to kind of play off of to figure out what the next best move is.

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Examples

  • Why have these women been erased so thoroughly from the historical record?

    Academic text (1993)
  • An examination of the historical record reveals that racism did have a beginning.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Well, not according to historical records.

  • Consider the legal and historical record.

  • It's a matter of historical record.

  • And the historical record is a little vague on this.

  • The historical record has proven that I am right.

  • As is evident from the historical record, these circumstances do not often exist.

    Academic text (1990)
  • They did not read the historical records about these two.

  • The historian published a historical record detailing the events of the ancient civilization.

Synonyms

record
vshistorical record
2.5

A paper or file that gives information about past events

is specifically regarded as authentic and dependable historical evidence
historical document
vshistorical record
6 3.5

A record from the past that helps us learn about people or events

is regarded as authentic and formally reliable evidence
written record
vshistorical record
5 3.4

A document that keeps proof of facts or events

is valued for being especially authentic and dependable evidence
historical account
vshistorical record
3 3.5

A written or spoken record of past events

is focused on reliable recorded proof rather than general storytelling
written document
vshistorical record
  • Formal
3 2.5

A formal paper that gives information or records facts

is assessed for genuine reliability as evidence about past events
written account
vshistorical record
1 3.2

A paper that describes events so people can read about them later

is judged by its authenticity as trustworthy evidence rather than a story

How Reliable

historical record
18 3.3
record
2.5
account
466 3.0
story
1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

historical + record

The meaning 'a written account about past events' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'historical' (pertaining to past events) with 'record' (written evidence). This straightforward noun-modifier composition is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Historical record comes from the simple image of someone writing important events into an official book: historical means about the past and a record is something written down to be kept. So, a historical record is a written document used as reliable 'evidence' of what happened.