HSK 3 · Education, Work

历史 lìshǐ “history” in Chinese

Traditional 歷史

What 历史 means

  1. history

Measure word 门 mén or 段 duàn · 一门历史 yì mén lìshǐ

How to say 历史

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale历lì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale史shǐ3rd tone, dipping

历史 in a sentence

  1. 我对亚洲的历史很感兴趣。

    Wǒ duì Yàzhōu de lìshǐ hěn gǎn xìngqù.

    I’m very interested in Asian history.

    Sentence #390458 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 这个国家有很丰富的历史。

    Zhè ge guójiā yǒu hěn fēngfù de lìshǐ.

    This country has a rich history.

    Sentence #8934299 from Tatoeba

  3. 历史课九点开始。

    Lìshǐ kè jiǔ diǎn kāishǐ.

    The history class starts at nine.

    Sentence #5905025 from Tatoeba

How 历史 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 历 (lì) with each of its parts in a different colour
历lìcalendar
  • 厂cliff · hǎn
  • 力strength · lìSound part

厤 hints at the meaning (to calculate); 力 (lì) hints at the sound. Compare it with lì.

The character 史 (shǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
史shǐhistory
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 乂to govern · yì

How to write 历史

历 4 strokes · 史 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

历史 (lìshǐ) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 历史 (lìshǐ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 历史

Words with 历

经历jīnglì · experience日历rìlì · calendar学历xuélì · educational background简历jiǎnlì · curriculum vitae (CV)历代lìdài · successive dynasties历来lìlái · always农历nónglì · lunar calendar来历láilì · origin

More words: School, Work & Culture

会议huìyì · meeting节目jiémù · programme经理jīnglǐ · manager句子jùzi · sentence年级niánjí · grade数学shùxué · mathematics司机sījī · driver体育tǐyù · physical training

FAQs

历史 (lìshǐ) means “history”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it lìshǐ: lì with a 4th tone, then shǐ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 历史 is written 歷史. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 门 (mén) or 段 (duàn). For example, one history is 一门历史 (yì mén lìshǐ).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lishi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 历史 from the suggestions. Typing lishi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
历史 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.