Dictionary:

chronicle

  (krŏn'ĭ-kəl)

1. An extended account in prose or verse of historical events, sometimes including legendary material, presented in chronological order and without authorial interpretation or comment.
2. A detailed narrative record or report.
3. Chronicles (used with a sing. verb) (Abbr. Chr. or Chron. or Ch) A book of the Bible.

To record in or in the form of a historical record.

[Middle English cronicle, from Anglo-Norman, alteration of Old French cronique, from Latin chronica, from Greek khronika (biblia), chronological (books), annals, neuter pl. of khronikos, of time. See chronic.]

noun

1. A chronological record of past events: annals, history. See happen, words.
2. A recounting of past events: account, description, history, narration, narrative, report, statement, story, version. See words.

Definition: report, recount
Antonyms: hide, secret

chronicle, a written record of events presented in order of time, and updated regularly over a prolonged period. The chroniclers of the Middle Ages, from the compilers of King Alfred's Anglo‐Saxon Chronicle (9th to 12th centuries) onward, tended to mix legend and rumour with fact in their accounts. Significant chronicles in the later Middle Ages include those of Matthew Paris (St Albans, late 13th century) and the accounts of the wars against the English written by the French chronicler Jean Froissart (late 14th century). Raphael Holinshed and his collaborators published in 1577 the Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland which (in an expurgated edition of 1587) were adapted by Shakespeare and other dramatists in their chronicle plays.

Tutor's tip: Something that is "chronic" is something that is persistent and of long standing, something that is "chronical" is something that pertains to a long-standing disease, while "chronicle" is a listing of events in a set order.

Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica, from Greek χρονικά (from χρόνος)) is a historical account of facts and events in chronological order. Typically, equal weight is given for important events and less important events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, which focuses on important events and excludes those the author does not see as important.

Nabonidus Chronicle, British Museum, London

Scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups: live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author gathers his list of events up to the time of his writing, but does not record further events as they occur. A live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles over dead ones.

The term often refers to a book written by a chronicler in the Middle Ages describing historical events in a country, or the lives of a nobleman or a clergyman, although it is also applied to a record of public events. Various contemporary newspapers or other periodicals have adopted "chronicle" as part of their name. Various fictional stories have also adopted "chronicle" as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories.

A chronicle which traces world history is called a Universal chronicle.

List of notable chronicles

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle — Britain
• Annals of Inisfallen — Ireland
• Annals of the Four Masters — Ireland
• Annals of Spring and Autumn — China
• Bodhi Vamsa — Sri Lanka
• Books of Chronicles — Middle East
• Chula Vamsa — Sri Lanka
• Dioclean Priest's Chronicle — Europe
• Croyland Chronicle — England
• Dipa Vamsa — Indian subcontinent
• Eric's Chronicle — Sweden
• Froissart's Chronicles — Western Europe
• Galician-Volhynian Chronicle — Ukraine
• Henry of Livona Chronicle — Eastern Europe
• History of the Prophets and Kings — Middle East and Mediterranean
• Jans der Enikel — Europe and Mediterranean
• Jerome's Chronicle — Mediterranean and Middle East
• Kano Chronicle — Nigeria
• Lethrense Chronicle — Denmark
• Maha Vamsa — Indian subcontinent
• Nabonidus Chronicle — Mesopotamia
• Paschale Chronicle — Mediterranean
• Puranas — India
• Qu'ran — Middle East
• Rajatarangini — Kashmir
• Records of Three Kingdoms — China
• Russian Primary Chronicle — Eastern Europe
• Chronicle of the Slavs — Europe
• Swiss illustrated chronicles — Switzerland
• Zimmern Chronicle — Germany

See also

• Chronicles are two canonical books of the Old Testament. See Books of Chronicles.
• List of English chronicles
• Medieval Chronicle Society
• English historians in the Middle Ages
• Universal chronicle

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - krønike
v. tr. - optegne

Nederlands (Dutch)
kroniek, in een kroniek schrijven

Français (French)
n. - chronique, annales, (fig) suite de
v. tr. - écrire une chronique de (qn), être une chronique de, faire la chronique des, noter (qch) au jour le jour, retracer

Deutsch (German)
n. - Chronik
v. - aufzeichnen, niederschreiben

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - χρονικό, εξιστόρηση
v. - εξιστορώ, αφηγούμαι, καταχωρώ (σε δέλτους), καταγράφω

Italiano (Italian)
narrare, far la cronaca, annotare, cronaca, cronistoria

Português (Portuguese)
n. - crônica (f)
v. - narrar

Русский (Russian)
вести хронологические записи, хроника

Español (Spanish)
n. - crónica, anuario
v. tr. - hacer la crónica de

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - krönika
v. - uppteckna

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
年代记, 编年史, 记录, 载入编年史

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 年代記, 編年史, 記錄
v. tr. - 載入編年史

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 연대기, 기록, 이야기
v. tr. - 연대기에 싣다, 연대순으로 기록하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 年代記, 記録, …新聞
v. - 年代記に載せる, 記録にとどめる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تاريخ, تسجيل الأحداث (فعل) سرد, سجل, أرخ‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮היסטוריה, קורות, כרוניקה‬
v. tr. - ‮רשם קורות‬

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