ancient history

noun

|Updated on: 20 Jul 2018

Definition of ancient history

1 : the history of ancient times

2 : something from the past dismissed as no longer important or relevant to the present

regarding their former dispute as ancient history

Recent Examples of ancient history from the Web

The days of bipartisan judicial confirmations now seem like ancient history.

— karl rove, WSJ, "Whom Do Red-State Democrats Fear Most?," 11 July 2018
These Witness Trees remind park visitors, of every age, that the Civil War is hardly ancient history.

— CBS News, "Rooted in history: Gettysburg's "Witness Trees"," 8 July 2018
Casey Sluis, 14, said his primary history interests are American history and ancient history.

— bob goldsborough, chicagotribune.com, "McClure students compete and excel in National History Bee," 17 June 2018
Russian football has been in crisis for some time, the heady days of a surprise Euro 2008 semifinal berth and UEFA Europa League title runs by a couple clubs now feeling like ancient history.

— brian straus, SI.com, "Russia's World Cup Opener Alters Its Narrative, Changes Its Outlook, Pleases Putin," 14 June 2018
That's an astounding number - the highest since all the way back to that Michael Jordan-Karl Malone classic of 1998, ancient history in television-viewership terms.

— steven zeitchik, chicagotribune.com, "How the NBA Finals are defying TV ratings declines (Hint: LeBron James may not be the reason)," 8 June 2018
The pairing of rebirth with violent death has an ancient history.

— amanda foreman, WSJ, "When Blossoms and Bullets Go Together: The Battles of Springtime," 6 Apr. 2018
With tweets and leaks setting the frenetic pace of the daily news agenda, Syria is ancient history.

— theo emery, Time, "The North Korea Summit Is Trump's Chance to Pressure Syria About Its Weapons, Too," 4 June 2018
But a wobbly beginning Saturday seemed like ancient history once Laxner settled in and got on a roll.

— c.r. walker, Elgin Courier-News, "Way too much Laxner: Nick Laxner settles in as Huntley shuts down Barrington for sectional title," 2 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ancient history.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.