“Looking at the past history of the company, we can see growth over decades.”
Redundancies Entry 273 / 1011 60-second read
Past History
History is by definition the study of past events, so 'past' is redundant.
The comparisoni
“Looking at the history of the company, we can see growth over decades.”
More examplesii
01
The past history of Rome reveals its military strategies.
The history of Rome reveals its military strategies.
02
Based on past history, this project will succeed.
Based on history, this project will succeed. OR Based on past experience, this project will succeed.
03
If you look at the past history of this team, they always recover.
If you look at the history of this team, they always recover.
The ruleiii
¶
HISTORY IS THE PAST: History by definition refers to events that have already happened.
People add 'past' for emphasis or clarity, not realizing that history inherently refers to the past. The combination feels emphatic, especially in academic or formal writing where people try to be comprehensive.
Memory aidiv
Remember it like this
There's no such thing as 'future history'—history is always about what happened before. So 'past' is built into the word.