sto|ry

sto|ry¹ «STR ee, STOHR-», noun, plural -ries, verb, -ried, -ry|ing.

–n.

1. an account of some happening or group of happenings: »

the story of the boy's disappearance, the story of the gold rush. The man told the story of his life.

SYNONYM(S): relation, narrative, recital, record, chronicle.

2. such an account, either true or made-up, intended to interest the reader or hearer; tale: »

fairy stories, ghost stories, stories of adventure, a speech abounding in good stories, the short stories of Poe.

3. Informal. a falsehood: »

That boy is a liar; he tells stories.

SYNONYM(S): fib, lie.

4. stories as a branch of literature: »

famous in song and story.

5. the plot or succession of incidents as of a play or novel: »

If you were to read [Samuel] Richardson for the story, your impatience would be so much fretted that you would hang yourself (Samuel Joson).

6. U.S. a) a newspaper article. b) the subject or material for this.

7. Archaic. history: »

well-read in story.

–v.t.

1. to ornament with sculptured or painted scenes from history or legend.

2. Archaic. to tell the history or story of; relate.

╂[< Anglo-French estorie, learned borrowing from Latin historia < Greek historíā. See etym. of doublet history. (Cf. ↑history)]

Synonym Study noun. 2 Story, anecdote, tale mean a spoken or written account of some happening or happenings. Story applies to any such account, true or made-up, long or short, in prose or verse, intended to interest another: »

the story of King Arthur.

Anecdote applies to a brief story about a single incident, usually funny or with an interesting point, often in the life of a famous person: »

He knows many anecdotes about Mark Twain.

Tale usually applies to a longer story: »

an ancient Persian tale. She reads tales of frontier days.

sto|ry² «STR ee, STOHR-», noun, plural -ries.

1. one of the structural divisions in the height of a building; floor or the space between two floors: »

a house of two stories. There are four rooms on the third story.

2. a room or set of rooms on the same level or floor of a building: »

The third story is for rent.

3. each of a number of tiers or rows (of columns, windows, or other building parts) placed horizontally one above another. Also, storey.

╂[perhaps ultimately a special use of story¹]