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Etymology and origin of the English word story

English has two words spelled story, both from Latin historia and both doublets of history: the narrative, and the floor of a building, spelled storey in British English.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈstɔː.ri/[4]
  • US: /ˈstɔːr.i/[4]

Forms

  • storey (UK, the floor of a building)

story1 narrative

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1200 before 1200 (Ancrene Riwle)
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman estorie via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ἵστωρ

Etymology

The narrative is inherited from Middle English storie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman estorie (Old French estoire, modern French histoire),[3][5][2] and directly Late Latin storia, a shortening of Latin historia (“history, account, tale, story”),[5][3] from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía, “inquiry, record, history”), from ἱστορέω (historéō, “to inquire”), from ἵστωρ (hístōr, “wise man, judge”),[3][5] related to ἰδεῖν (ideîn, “to see”) (see wit).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A historical narrative or writing, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle;[3][6] the OED's first quotation, for a narrative of important events of the past, is from before 1225.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word was not distinguished from history until the 1500s, and was used in most of its senses.[5] A storier was a historian and a book of story a history book.[5] A humorous anecdote is a story from the early 15th century,[5] and a tale told for entertainment is first recorded in Dunbar's poems (1500–20).[3][5] The facts of a case in sequence are its story from about 1600,[5] and the plot of a novel or play from 1715.[5] The verb, to tell as a story, is from before 1450, and to decorate with pictures of historical scenes from 1387–88, whence storied windows.[6][7]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – a historical narrative (Ancrene Riwle).[3]
  • 1387–88 – verb, to decorate with historical scenes.[6]
  • early 15th century – a humorous anecdote.[5]
  • before 1450 – verb, to tell the story of.[6]
  • 1500–20 – a tale for entertainment (Dunbar).[3]
  • 1715 – the plot of a novel or play.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An account of an event or series of events, true or fictitious.
  2. A usually fictional prose or verse narrative meant to interest or amuse; a tale.
  3. A short story.
  4. The plot of a novel, play or film.
  5. A news report or article.
  6. (informal) A lie: don't tell stories.

Verb

  1. To decorate with scenes from history or legend.
  2. To tell as a story.

Word family

  • storied
  • storybook
  • storyteller
  • storytelling
  • storyline

story2 floor of a building

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1384
Borrowed from
Latin historia via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin historia
Etymology tree of story2
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek ἵστωρ (hístōr)
Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historíā)
Latin historia
English history
English story
French histoire
Italian storia
Spanish historia
The journey of story2
From the same root · story2
Ancient Greek ἱστορέω (historéō) ← ἵστωρ
Ancient Greek ἱστορικός (historikós) ← ἱστορία

Etymology

The floor of a building is inherited from Middle English storie,[2][8] borrowed from Medieval Latin historia (“picture; floor of a building”), a special use in Anglo-Latin (about 1200) of Latin historia (“history”).[3][5][9] It was perhaps so called because medieval buildings often had rows of painted windows or sculptures on the front, each tier showing a historical subject.[3][5][1] The second part of clerestory (1412) is early evidence of it.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A stage of the height of a building, recorded before 1384,[3] or about 1400 according to Etymonline.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was used of anything arranged in horizontal stages, one above another, from 1625,[6] and jocularly upper story meant the head as the seat of the mind (1699).[6] British English now spells this word storey.[6][10]

Timeline

  • before 1384 – a floor of a building.[3]
  • 1412 – clerestory.[3]
  • 1625 – any horizontal stage or tier.[6]
  • 1699 – upper story, the head.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A complete horizontal division of a building, between two floors or a floor and the roof; a floor.
  2. The rooms on one level of a building.

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Story.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/story. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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