歴史上(れきしじょう)

Compound of 歴史(れきし) ('history') + the suffix 上(じょう) ('with respect to; on'), which attaches to abstract nouns to form expressions meaning 'from the standpoint of ~' or 'in terms of ~.' 歴史上(れきしじょう) thus conveys 'as a matter of history' or 'in the scope of history.'

Common patterns

• 歴史上(れきしじょう)の + noun: 'historical ~' — modifies a noun as an attributive.
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)の人物(じんぶつ): historical figure
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)の大事件(だいじけん): a great event in history
• 歴史上(れきしじょう) + verb / adjective: used adverbially to locate something within the span of recorded history.
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)初(はじ)めての: the first in history
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)まれに見(み)る: rarely seen in history

Common collocations

• 歴史上(れきしじょう)の人物(じんぶつ): a historical figure
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)の出来事(できごと): a historical event
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)最大(さいだい)の: the greatest in history
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)最悪(さいあく)の: the worst in history
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)初(はじ)めて: for the first time in history
• 歴史上(れきしじょう)例(れい)のない: unprecedented in history

Similar words

• 歴史的(れきしてき): historic; historical — an adjective used attributively; emphasizes significance or pertaining to history, while 歴史上(れきしじょう) locates something within the sweep of history.
• 史上(しじょう): in history — nearly synonymous, often interchangeable, slightly more compact and frequent in headlines (史上最高(しじょうさいこう)).
• 歴史的(れきしてき)に: historically (in an adjectival-adverbial sense) — can express causation ('historically speaking, ...') as well as factual location in history.

Usage

• Very common in journalism and academic writing when describing extremes: the greatest, the first, the rarest, the worst, etc.
• Functions both as a noun (taking の) and as an adverb (directly modifying verbs).
• A closely related productive pattern is 〜上(じょう) ('in terms of ~'): 教育上(きょういくじょう) ('from an educational standpoint'), 健康上(けんこうじょう) ('for health reasons'), 法律上(ほうりつじょう) ('legally; in legal terms').