cliometrics

noun

clio·​met·​rics ˌklī-ə-ˈme-triks 

plural in form but singular in construction

: the application of methods developed in other fields (such as economics, statistics, and data processing) to the study of history

cliometric

ˌklī-ə-ˈme-trik 

adjective

cliometrician

ˌklī-ə-me-ˈtri-shən 

noun

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Cliometrics comes from a combination of "Clio," the name of the Greek Muse of history, and "-metrics," as in "econometrics" ("the application of statistical methods to the study of economic data and problems") or "biometrics" ("the statistical analysis of biological observations and phenomena"). American economists Douglass North and Robert Fogel developed cliometrics, a highly quantitative means for studying the past. In 1993, North and Fogel won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their pioneering work.

Examples of cliometrics in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This isn't too surprising, as there wasn't that much cliometrics. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 10 July 2012

Word History

Etymology

Clio + -metrics (as in econometrics)

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

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