Meanings
- idiomaticinformalOne does not need to continue narrating a story as the subsequent events are assumed to be well-known.
Sarah and I got married back in 1956 and the rest is history.
1 more example
And we said, “We're all going to agree on one name, and we're all going to start using it.” We voted on “sourceware” versus “open source,” and “open source” won. We had the press conference at five, and the rest is history.
2009, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, quoting Tim O'Reilly, Beautiful Teams: Inspiring and Cautionary Tales from Veteran Team Leaders, O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 4
Translations
Chinese Cantonese 淨低嘅都係歷史 /净低嘅都系历史
- 淨低嘅都係歷史 /净低嘅都系历史used to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Chinese Mandarin 餘下的都是歷史 /余下的都是历史
- 餘下的都是歷史 /余下的都是历史used to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Dutch de rest is geschiedenis
- de rest is geschiedenisused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Estonian ülejäänut te juba teate
- ülejäänut te juba teateused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Finnish loppu on historiaa
- loppu on historiaaused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
French le reste est de l'histoire, on connaît la suite
- le reste est de l'histoireused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
- on connaît la suiteused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
German der Rest ist Geschichte
- der Rest ist Geschichteused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Italian il resto è storia
- il resto è storiaused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Polish reszta jest historią
- reszta jest historiąused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Portuguese o resto é história
- o resto é históriaused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Spanish lo demás es historia
- lo demás es historiaused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Swedish resten är historia
- resten är historiaused to indicate that one does not need to continue a story
Cite this entry
the rest is history. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20rest%20is%20history
“the rest is history.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20rest%20is%20history. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the rest is history,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20rest%20is%20history.
Source: the rest is history on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.