historicization
|his-tor-i-za-tion|
🇺🇸
/hɪˌstɔrɪsaɪˈzeɪʃən/
🇬🇧
/hɪˌstɒrɪsaɪˈzeɪʃən/
(historicize)
place in historical context
Etymology
'historicization' originates from Modern English, formed from the verb 'historicize' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ation' (from Latin '-ationem'), where 'historicize' is built on 'historical' ultimately from Latin 'historia' and Greek 'historia' meaning 'inquiry, narrative'.
'historicization' developed as a noun by adding the suffix '-ation' to the verb 'historicize' (a back-formation from 'historical' and 'history'); 'history' itself comes from Latin 'historia', from Greek 'historia', and the formation of modern scholarly verbs and nouns produced the current English term 'historicization'.
Initially tied simply to 'making or treating as historical,' the term has evolved in scholarly usage to emphasize the interpretive practice of situating things within historical processes and narratives.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the process or result of making something historical or treating something as part of history; the act of historicizing or placing into a historical context.
The historicization of the event altered how later generations understood its causes.
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Noun 2
in academic and critical contexts, the practice of interpreting phenomena specifically in their historical development or situating them within a historical narrative.
Scholars emphasized the historicization of social practices to reveal how they emerged over time.
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Last updated: 2025/11/17 09:46