ancient history

noun

1. the study or a course of study of history before the end of the Western Roman Empire a.d. 476.
2. information or an event of the recent past that is common knowledge or is no longer pertinent:

   Last week's news is ancient history.

3. an event, as in a person's life, that occurred in the remote past and has no practical relationship with the present:

   She was my best friend in high school, but that's ancient history now.

ancient history

noun

1. the history of the ancient world from the earliest known civilizations to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 a.d
2. informal.
   a recent event or fact sufficiently familiar to have lost its pertinence

Word History and Origins

Origin of ancient history¹

First recorded in 1585–95

Idioms and Phrases

A past event, as in She's talking about her sea voyage, but that's ancient history , or And then there was his divorce, but you don't want to hear ancient history . This hyperbolic idiom transfers the field of ancient history to a much-repeated tale.

Example Sentences

Fifty years later, cultural norms around unplanned pregnancy and single motherhood have shifted in ways that make the world of maternity homes seem like ancient history.

From Time

Erick views his divorce as ancient history, so he talked about how he and his ex-wife met, struggled with infertility and in vitro fertilization and ultimately ended their relationship many years ago.

From Washington Post

This is not recent history, but it is not ancient history, either.

From Washington Post

He completed his undergraduate degree in ancient history at Bristol University before moving on to Yale for his master’s degree in international relations.

From Fortune

For a young woman of the post-millennial generation, Sade might seem as ancient history as jazz legend Billie Holiday.

From Essence.com

Does any of this ancient history of the bellbottom era sound familiar to you, fellow millennial geeks?

From The Daily Beast

It seems to me like ancient history, whether fact or fiction.

From The Daily Beast

But that may be ancient history in Providence, where the still-beloved figure may seek one more go of it in City Hall.

From The Daily Beast

What he could not foresee was that a half century later Freedom Summer would not be ancient history.

From The Daily Beast

D-Day was 70 years ago, and to midshipmen of today, it is all but ancient history.

From The Daily Beast

It is impossible to form a just estimate of the Bible without some knowledge of ancient history and comparative mythology.

From Project Gutenberg

The ruined arches of the old bridge carry the imagination back into the ancient history of the town.

From Project Gutenberg

Boucher, moved to the depths of his consciousness by Diderot, resolved to paint a picture taken from ancient history.

From Project Gutenberg

Yes; she was the love of my life—I may say it now, for it is ancient history—and she loved you.

From Project Gutenberg

I am personally a trifle sceptical on this point, and believe that the key to this part of ancient history is yet to be found.

From Project Gutenberg