Meaning & use
annals
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Meanings
nounpluralformal
A written account of events recorded year by year.
Grammar: Plural form: The annals record the flood; the annals of a monastery.
Patterns
- the annals of something
- in the annals of something
The monastery's annals describe a harsh winter in 1235.
Scholars study the annals to learn when the bridge was built.
The town annals list every mayor since the founding.
nounpluralformal
The whole recorded history of a subject or field, thought of as a record of its important events.
Grammar: Often in the phrase in the annals of: a first in the annals of science.
Patterns
- in the annals of something
- go down in the annals
It was the biggest upset in the annals of chess.
Her speech will go down in the annals of local politics.
The case is unique in the annals of medicine.
Common combinations
- in the annals of history
- The battle is famous in the annals of history.
- go down in the annals
- The game will go down in the annals of the club.
- annals of crime
- It remains one of the strangest cases in the annals of crime.
- imperial annals
- The imperial annals record each ruler's decrees.
- annals of medicine
- Her discovery is a landmark in the annals of medicine.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chronicle
- A chronicle tells events in order like annals but is often more narrative and may cover longer spans.
- records
- Records is a general word for any documented information, while annals suggests a historic, year-by-year account.
- history
- History is the broad field of the past, while annals names a specific written record.
- archives
- Archives are collections of documents, whereas annals are a narrative record.
Word family
- annalist noun
- A person who writes annals.
- annual adjective
- Happening every year; from the same Latin word for year.
- annually adverb
- Every year.
- anniversary noun
- The date each year when an event is remembered.
Commonly confused: annals or annuals?
annals vs annuals
Annuals are plants that live one year or books published yearly; annals are year-by-year records of the past.
Practice
The record-setting storm will certainly be remembered in the ______ of the town's weather history.
Choose one answer.
Annals are the recorded history of a subject, so in the annals of fits. Annuals sounds similar but means yearly plants or publications.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “annals”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.