Some words are so firmly settled in our minds, deeply embedded in our lives, that most often we do not even realize how we use them. Examples include words like “school,” “audience,” or “history.” Meanwhile, the first two were once borrowed from the Latin language, and we will consider the meaning and origin of the latter in this article.
Origin of the word
Despite the seemingly simplicity and obviousness of the meaning, the definition of the word "history", its meaning and etymology still cause controversy among leading linguists around the world. All of them indicate the origin of the term we are interested in from the Greek language (historia), however, the understanding of the original meaning varies significantly.
Incredible points of view
The meaning of the word "history", as mentioned earlier, is still determined by linguists, culturologists and philosophers. At the same time, along with completely logical and reasonable interpretations, there are also very special views on the meaning of the term.
The most interesting in this case are the points of view of religious thinkers. Some, for example, guided by the phonetic principle, determine the meaning of the word "history" by dividing it into so-called "sound" syllables. Moreover, anyone with imagination can easily notice in the term the whole sentence "from Torah-I". Such an interpretation gravitating towards Judaism, however, retains one of the main positions to this day.
On the other hand, adherents of Orthodoxy interpret the meaning of the word "history" in a slightly different way. In their explanation, they turn to morphological analysis, while highlighting the root of "old" as the semantic core . Appealing to this, researchers who advocate this point of view insist on the primacy of the Old Slovenian word, which was later borrowed by the Greek language.
The meaning of the basic word itself was interpreted in this case as a thought approved by the divine principle, voiced by man.
If you turn to explanatory dictionaries
The meaning of the word "history" in the most famous sources is determined in different ways. Only in the explanatory dictionary of T. F. Efremov is given 8 different interpretations of the term that interests us.
Most often, the following definition of the word "history" is given in articles: by this token it is customary to understand a whole scientific complex aimed at studying the past of all mankind. Nevertheless, even in the field of scientific activity, there are wider ideas about this word. For example, in the same dictionary of T.F. Efremov, the definition of history is found as a process of formation and development of not only phenomena related to human activity and life, but also nature as a whole. In this context, a much more pronounced attraction to natural science.
Other definitions
Among the available points of view, one cannot but single out the opinion that history is science of facts. In this case, the basis of the meaning of the term lies precisely in the authenticity of what happened. In this case, not only the great wars and cataclysms will act as an example, but also any other incidents that can be confirmed and documented.
According to other ideas, history is, first of all, a story, a description of a particular situation. In this case, we can cite the plot of any film or book, which modern mankind has long been accustomed to and adapted to. Remember how many times you asked someone to tell a story and see how firmly this understanding of the term has been strengthened in our minds.
What or what?
In relation to the term "history" the meaning of the word determines in many ways the ideas about him, his species distinction. At first glance, everything seems simple and understandable, and the deepest meaning is pure and transparent.
Nevertheless, how many times have you heard stories about all kinds of conquests or, for example, prominent figures? In such situations, the semantics of the story, the description of a particular phenomenon, are very clearly traced.
Or take, for example, the name of the discipline "World History". Meaning of the word in this context, it will be somewhat different - it tends to be systematized, interpreted, and we are used to this for a long time.
There are other pitfalls in this definition. The word "history", meaning, interpretation, meaning which seem simple and clear, can also mean the process of becoming something. For example, the formation of a country, the study of a particular problem, the construction of an apparatus and other realities. The history of Russia and the history of literary criticism may exist equally.
General in particular
As already mentioned, the concept under study represents in its greatest form a whole complex of phenomena, spectra and varieties of scientific research. What history is cannot be said without distinguishing between general and particular. On the one hand, the term in question in this article is a whole complex of scientific and pseudoscientific knowledge about the process of the formation of the world as a whole and humanity in particular.
On the other hand, do not forget about the existence of a separate discipline bearing the same name. History is more or less thoroughly studied in schools, universities and other educational institutions.
Object and subject
Many thinkers, including Voltaire and Rene Descartes, argued about the purpose of this complex of sciences, its structure and the degree of necessity for the normal existence of mankind. Based on the points of view set forth by them and many other points of view, it can be said that the subject of history is, first of all, all manifestations of the formation and development of human society from time immemorial to the present day. Speaking more globally and on a large scale, it is necessary to expand the scope of study to the world. In this context, the subject of history is the life of the whole world from the moment of its inception, in whatever form it takes place.
How is it organized
First of all, of course, this is a complex of knowledge, not only scientific, but also private, no matter how strange it may sound. By and large, each nation, each nation has its own understanding and interpretation of history, which can literally be diametrically different from the rest.
This is due primarily to the geopolitical component: the wars through which the people had to go and the positions that the people held in them. So for some this or that event can be defined as the greatest victory, and for others for centuries to remain a stigma of shame on the body of the nation.
So what is history? We have already found out where the word came from - we now turn to the direct fact-finding, the so-called material manifestations. Indeed, in fact, how does modern humanity know about what happened in the era of dinosaurs or, for example, the royal Scythians?
The formation of an idea of history directly depends, firstly, on material material, which is in large or smaller quantities during various excavations and expeditions. Secondly, from the monuments of writing that have survived to this day.
The latter may be directly the annals or testimonies of the priests, as well as simple letters of the population, which speak of things completely insignificant and of a near-everyday nature.
Special source of submissions
It is noteworthy that an important source of opinion of modern mankind regarding the past is art. By and large, it is in it that the cultural, historical situation of a given time period is most fully reflected.
In the paintings, for example, one can distinguish not only the main trends in terms of form, but also the originality of the subject, which in many cases forms the idea of the worldview of our distant or not very distant ancestors.
This fact is even more clearly reflected in fiction, in which the features of understanding the world, the organization of life, the state and many other phenomena are reflected in the smallest details.
It is the literary process in its dynamics and development that most characterizes the movement of human thought in time and space. It is noteworthy that approximately the same function is conditionally performed by cinema - from the famous tapes of the past, modern mankind learns about the style of a particular era, significant phenomena in the historical situation, culture and religion of a country.
Generational Memory
Finally, one should not forget about folklore and the stories of our grandparents. Of course, in this regard, the question of objectivity of presentation is especially acute, but in a sense, the understanding of the historical picture in this case becomes more complete. As an example, one can cite numerous stories of eyewitnesses of the Second World War, which preserved not only the personal impressions of the people who caused this terrible time, but also facts not known to modern science.
A similar situation is observed in African tribes, far from civilization. The ideas about the origin, formation and development of the world are transmitted in them mainly orally, which significantly affects the people's understanding of the world.