historicity

H4I1S1T1O1R1I1C3I1T1Y4
/ˌhɪstəˈɹɪsɪti/

noun

Historical quality or authenticity based on fact.

“This particular school places great emphasis on the historicity of ideas, practices, or institutions.”

UncommonScrabble 19

Meanings

nounhistoricity (usually uncountable, plural historicities)

plural historicities

  1. uncountableusuallyHistorical quality or authenticity based on fact.

    The historicity of minor political figures of this period is often hard to establish due to a dearth of sources.

  2. uncountableusuallyhuman sciencesThe characteristic of having appeared or developed in history, as opposed to being natural or universal.

    This particular school places great emphasis on the historicity of ideas, practices, or institutions.

    2 more examples

    A superficial impression of Asia may be of disorder, whereas this condition is in fact the immediate historicity that speaks for an undertheorised heteroglossia.

    2017, Francis Chia-Hui Lin, Architectural Theorisations and Phenomena in Asia, page 194

    Beginning from Eliot's views on metaphysical poets, dissociated sensibility with thinkers like Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes and ideologies like Capitalism, dedoublement in Eliot's poetics, Freudian and Jamesian diagnosis of mind, Bergson's theory of dreams and perceptions, Shusterman's emphasis on anti-Cartesian stance of Eliotionism, Eliot's Anglicanism, Eliot's unified sensibility versus Coleridge's coinstantaneity, Baudelaire's romanticism read as counter romanticism, Eliot's "Tradition and Individual Talent" and Herbert Schneidau's "Tradition and two Individual Talents", Terry Eagleton's objection to Eliot's historicity.

    2008, “Preface”, in Nidhi Tiwari, editor, Critical Perspectives on T.S. Eliot's Poetry, Sarup and Sons, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Frenchhistoricité
  2. Englishhistoricity

Probably from French historicité, or from Latin historicus + -ity. Equivalent to historic + -ity.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan historicitat
  • historicitathistorical quality
Chinese Mandarin 史實性 /史实性, 史實性 /史实性
  • 史實性 /史实性 (shǐshíxìng)historical quality
  • 史實性 /史实性 (shǐshíxìng)characteristic of having appeared in history
Dutch historiciteit
  • historiciteithistorical quality
Finnish historiallisuus, historiallisuus
  • historiallisuushistorical quality
  • historiallisuuscharacteristic of having appeared in history
French historicité
  • historicitéhistorical quality
Hindi ऐतिहासिकता, ऐतिहासिकता
  • ऐतिहासिकता (aitihāsiktā)historical quality
  • ऐतिहासिकता (aitihāsiktā)characteristic of having appeared in history
Polish historyczność
  • historycznośćhistorical quality
Portuguese historicidade
  • historicidadehistorical quality
Russian историчность
  • историчность (istoričnostʹ)historical quality
Spanish historicidad
  • historicidadhistorical quality
Swedish historicitet, historicitet
  • historicitethistorical quality
  • historicitetcharacteristic of having appeared in history

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with historicity

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

historicity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/historicity

MLA

“historicity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/historicity. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “historicity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/historicity.

Source: historicity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.