historical

[ hi-stawr-i-kuhl, -stor- ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events:

   historical records;

   historical research.

2. based on or reconstructed from an event, custom, style, etc., in the past:

   a historical reenactment of the battle of Gettysburg.

3. having once existed or lived in the real world, as opposed to being part of legend or fiction or as distinguished from religious belief:

   Scholars doubt that a historical Camelot ever existed.

   Her thesis was an overview of how theologians have studied the historical Jesus.

   Synonyms: factual, authentic

4. narrated or mentioned in history; belonging to the past:

   He cited several historical examples of international conflict resolution.

5. relating to or involving analysis based on a comparison among several periods of development of a phenomenon, as in language or economics:

   She taught a course in historical linguistics.

6. historic ( def 1 ).

historical

/ hɪˈstɒrɪkəl /

adjective

1. belonging to or typical of the study of history

   historical methods

2. concerned with or treating of events of the past

   historical accounts

3. based on or constituting factual material as distinct from legend or supposition
4. based on or inspired by history

   a historical novel

5. occurring or prominent in history
6. See historic
   a less common word for historic

Derived Forms

• hisˈtorically, adverb
• hisˈtoricalness, noun

Other Words From

• his·tor·i·cal·ly adverb
• his·tor·i·cal·ness noun
• an·ti·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• an·ti·his·tor·i·cal·ness noun
• non·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• non·his·tor·i·cal·ness noun
• pseu·do·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• qua·si-his·tor·i·cal adjective
• sem·i·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• su·per·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• un·his·tor·i·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of historical¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin historic(us) historic ( def ) + -al ¹( def )

Example Sentences

Yes, North America and the EU ought to acknowledge their historical responsibility for emissions.

From Vox

A Han Gwich’in dog musher and triathlete who grew up in the village of Eagle, she’d taken the stage at the group’s 2017 convention as a keynote speaker describing personal loss and historical trauma.

From ProPublica

Many of them didn’t have any content related to significant LGBTQ historical figures as part of the history curriculum.

From Washington Blade

After being trained on historical data, the algorithm falsely classified patients with asthma as extremely low risk.

From Fortune

Vitale has 30 years of experience studying policing and advising community-based movements for reform and will discuss the historical role police have played as well as their current role.

From Washington Blade

Historical justifications for most modern celebrations can be found in the ancient world.

From The Daily Beast

Hitchcock had the historical good fortune to have worked from silent films through television.

From The Daily Beast

The central thrust of the sequence derives from historical fact.

From The Daily Beast

If there was anyone who thought otherwise, he left no historical record.

From The Daily Beast

“Unlike Turkey or Egypt, we have no art-historical tradition,” he told The Telegraph in 2002.

From The Daily Beast

And I finished all with a brief historical account of affairs and events in England for about a hundred years past.

From Project Gutenberg

Eustache le Sueur died; one of the best French historical painters of his time.

From Project Gutenberg

He distinguished himself by several military exploits, and wrote some valuable historical works.

From Project Gutenberg

Samuel Squire, bishop of St. David's died; a poetical, historical and antiquarian writer of note.

From Project Gutenberg

Paul de Rapin de Thoyras, an eminent French historical writer, died.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• actual
• ancient
• archival
• classical
• factual
• real