Word.ws English Dictionary

annals

/ˈæn.əlz/US/ˈæn.əlz/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

annals is the plural of annal.

Noun

annals pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) A relation of events in chronological order, each event being recorded under the year in which it happened.
    • So ended this great siege, the most memorable in the annals of the British isles. It had lasted a hundred and five days1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC
    • the annals of our religiona. 1729, John Rogers, A Sufficiency with Regard to Mens Stations in Life adjusted and recommended
  2. (plural, plural-only) Historical records; chronicles; history.
    • the short and simple annals of the poor1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley...
    • It was one of the most critical periods in our annals.1780, Edmund Burke, Speech at the Guildhall, in Bristol
  3. (plural, plural-only) A periodic publication, containing records of discoveries, transactions of societies, etc.
    • Annals of Science

Meaning of annal

Noun

annal (plural annals)

  1. The record of a single event or item.
    • In deathless annal! deathless deeds inspire:1805, Edward Young, The Poetical Works of the Reverend Dr. Ed. Young: with the life of the author, volume 3, →ISBN

See all 2 meanings of annal

Synonyms of annals

Origin of annals

Borrowed from Middle French annales, from Latin annālēs librī (“chronicles”), from annālis (“pertaining to a year”), from annus (“year”) + librī, plural of liber (“book”). Compare with annual.

Words that rhyme with annals

Questions about annals

What does annals mean?
Annals means a relation of events in chronological order, each event being recorded under the year in which it happened.
What is annals the plural of?
Annals is the plural of annal.
What part of speech is annals?
Annals is a noun.
How do you pronounce annals?
Annals is pronounced /ˈæn.əlz/ (UK).

Words near annals in the dictionary

  1. annalized
  2. annalizes
  3. annalizing
  4. annall
  5. annalled
  6. annals
  7. Annam
  8. Annamar
  9. Annamayya
  10. Annamese
  11. Annamite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: annals (page history and authors); annal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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