psychohistory en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /sʌɪkəʊˈhɪstəɹi/ (UK)
Etymology
From psycho- + history. * The science-fictional usage was created by Isaac Asimov in the mid-20th century.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The scientific study of psychology and motivation in history.
Pick argues that the general rejection of psycho-history by practising historians has left the story of ‘historical’ psychoanalysis on the shelf.
2012, Richard Overy, “The Mind of Evil”, in Literary Review, number 399:
- (countable, uncountable) A fictional mathematical statistical science of large population dynamics, where mathematical models can predict general futures, based on activities of quadrillions of individuals. The fictional science first occurs in Asimov's 1950s Foundation series, and has since been picked up by other authors for other works.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| psychohistories | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
psychohistorian · psychohistoriography · psychosocial · psychohistorical
Translations (5)
fi psykohistoria (psychology in history) · fr psychohistoire (psychology in history) · tr psikotarih (psychology in history) · ru психоисто́рия (psychology in history) · it psicostoria (psychology in history)