Basic Details
Word: Historian
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A person who studies the past and writes or teaches about it, using evidence such as old records, letters and buildings.
Synonyms: chronicler, scholar
How to Spell Historian
Syllables: his - to - ri - an
Tricky part: History drops its y and takes ian. Students write historyan, or change the o to an a and write histarian.
Watch out for: historyan, histarian, historien
Memory tip: Turn history into a person the way library becomes librarian: drop the y and add ian, histor + ian.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The historian studied old temple inscriptions to date the kingdom.
Example 2: Our guide at Hampi was a local historian who knew every story about the ruins.
Example 3: Romila Thapar is a well-known historian of ancient India.
Fun Fact
Herodotus, a Greek writer of the 400s BC, is often called the Father of History for his long account of the wars between Greece and Persia.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. anceint 2. historian 3. manuscrip 4. archiology
a) belonging to the very distant past
b) an expert who studies and writes about the past
c) a book or document written by hand
d) the study of old remains dug from the ground
Show answer
b) an expert who studies and writes about the past. Archaeology needs ae after the arch, ancient has ie, and manuscript ends in a t.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
hist_r_an
a) e, i
b) o, e
c) o, i
d) a, i
Show answer
c) o, i. Keep the o of history, and the y turns into the i of ian.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The noted sianotrih spent ten years writing about the Chola kings.
a) librarian
b) physician
c) historian
d) musician
Show answer
c) historian. The jumble holds h, s, t, o and r, and only historian uses those letters and no others.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A historian would most likely study ____.
a) old letters and records
b) the latest phone models
c) the stars at night
d) tomorrow's weather
Show answer
a) old letters and records
2. Which source would a historian trust most about an old battle?
a) a rumour heard on a bus
b) a guess made by a classmate
c) a comic book drawn last year
d) a letter by a soldier who fought in it
Show answer
d) a letter by a soldier who fought in it
