history repeats itself

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Events and situations from the past often recur in similar forms

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Các sự kiện và tình huống trong quá khứ thường lặp lại

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English
Sources & notes

Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “history repeats itself” mean?

Events and situations from the past often recur in similar forms

Is “history repeats itself” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.