historian

«historian» in Mova's school dictionary: a person who studies history and writes about the past… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a historian, historians)

meaning for a pupil

1) A historian is a person who studies history and writes about the past, using evidence such as documents, objects and buildings. tree →

2) (school) A historian is anyone who does the work of history, like pupils asking questions about the past and checking sources. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons pupils «think like historians»: they look at primary and secondary sources, ask who made them and why, and compare different accounts. It tells the reader that knowledge of the past comes from evidence. Phrases: «a local historian», «historians believe», «a military historian», «an art historian».

examples

• Historians study letters and diaries to learn about the past. tree →
• A local historian showed us old photos of our town. tree →
• Historians disagree about why the war began. tree →
• Today we are historians, looking at clues from Roman Britain. tree →
• The historian wrote a book about the Victorian railways. tree →
• Historians use evidence, not guesses. tree →
• To what extent Hook is to blame for his tactics on this occasion is for the historian to decide. tree →

note

Both «a historian» and «an historian» are seen; «a historian» is more common today. Related: history, historic (important in history), historical (about history). Trap: a historian is not the same as a «storyteller»; historians must check evidence.

In the corpora

• Real numbers are only estimates, so historians give ranges, not exact counts like a game screen.
• Historians call this the Columbian Exchange.
• After 1492 plants and animals crossed the Atlantic in both directions, which historians call the Columbian Exchange.
• Historians name early times after the best tool material: the Stone Age, then the Bronze Age, then the Iron Age.
• Historians add that the Qing court was in fact curious about Western things but refused Britain's terms.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «historian» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.