Story
/ˈstɔː.ri/noun
A narrative, account, or tale; also a building level in American English.
Did you know?English story comes through Old French from Latin historia, which originally meant an inquiry or a learned account, the same root behind history itself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weid-
“to see, know”
Ancient Greek
Greek
historia
“inquiry, investigation, knowledge gained by asking”
Classical Latin
Latin
historia
“record of events, narrative, history”
Old French
Old French
estoire
“history, chronicle, account”
Middle English
English
storie
“a written account, narrative”
Modern English
English
story
“a tale or narrative; later, a floor of a building”
Explore more surprising origins