noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/hɪstɒɹɪˈkæstə/
General-American:/ˌhɪstɔɹəˈkæstəɹ/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æstə(ɹ)
1
noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of historiaster (“an inferior historian”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: derogatory, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: historiaster
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Latin historicus (“historical”) + -aster (suffix denoting incomplete or partial resemblance, and hence sometimes having a derogatory connotation). Historicus is derived from historia (“history”) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives), and is modelled after Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐκός (hĭstorĭkós, “historical”), from Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (hĭstorĭ́ā, “systematic observation, inquiry; knowledge or written account of such an inquiry”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (Hĭstorĭ́ā) is from ῐ̔στορέω (hĭstoréō, “to ask, inquire; to examine, observe; to record”) (from ῐ̔́στωρ (hĭ́stōr, “one who knows law and right, judge; wise man; witness”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).