Phrase guide

history repeats itself

proverb · 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

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1

proverb

Meaning 1

Things that have happened in the past will or tend to happen again in one way or another.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: التَّارِيخ يُعِيدُ نَفْسِهِ (at-tārīḵ yuʕīdu nafsihi) — Translations
  • Czech: historie se opakuje — Translations
  • Czech: dějiny se opakují — Translations
  • Dutch: de geschiedenis herhaalt zich — Translations
  • Finnish: historia toistaa itseään — Translations
  • French: l'histoire se répète — Translations
  • German: die Geschichte wiederholt sich — Translations
  • Greek: οι αιώνες αντιγράφουν αλλήλους (oi aiónes antigráfoun allílous) — Translations
  • Hindi: इतिहास दोहरता है (itihās dohartā hai) — Translations
  • Hungarian: a történelem ismétli önmagát — Translations
  • Indonesian: l’histoire se répète — Translations
  • Indonesian: sejarah berulang — Translations
  • Italian: la storia si ripete — Translations
  • Japanese: 歴史は繰り返します (Rekishi wa kurikaeshimasu) — Translations
  • Korean: 역사는 반복된다 (yeoksaneun banbokdoenda) — Translations
  • Norwegian: Historien gjentar seg selv — Translations
  • Polish: historia lubi się powtarzać — Translations
  • Polish: historia zatacza koło — Translations
  • Portuguese: a história se repete — Translations
  • Romanian: istoria se repetă — Translations
  • Russian: история повторяется (istorija povtorjajetsja) — Translations
  • Russian: история себя повторяет (istorija sebja povtorjajet) — Translations
  • Thai: ประวัติศาสตร์ซ้ํารอย — Translations
  • Turkish: tarih tekerrürden ibarettir — Translations
  • Urdu: تاریخ دوہرتا ہے (tarīx dohartā hai) — Translations