adjective
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famous or likely to become famous in history; significant
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a less common word for historical historical historical historical historical
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Also: secondary. linguistics (of Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit verb tenses) referring to past time
Usage
A distinction is usually made between historic (important, significant) and historical (pertaining to history): a historic decision; a historical perspective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of historic
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin historicus, from Greek historikós “historical, scientific,” from histor(ía) “inquiry” ( see history) + -ikos -ic
Explanation
Something that's historic was important in its day and continues to be studied and remembered, like the historic integration of segregated schools and the historic March on Washington in 1963. When you describe something that's historic, it's either the first or the only of its kind. Historic moments are so important or momentous that they'll show up in history textbooks. A building can be historic, and so can a speech or a battle or a disaster. The root word is the Greek historia, "a learning by inquiry or history," although historic specifically means "important in history."
Vocabulary lists containing historic
Workshop 4, Part 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Commonly Confused Words, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was not the first time that Xi has hosted a president at the historic compound.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
Now settling into life without a position on the council after 46 years, he said it was his views over the controversial closure of Walsall's historic Leather Museum that fuelled his harshest critic.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
“As someone who accompanied the prime minister on this historic trip, which was top secret until today, I can say that the prime minister was received in Abu Dhabi with a welcome fit for kings!”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
Trump, who is on a historic visit to China with a delegation that includes the CEOs of more than a dozen of the biggest U.S. companies, told the order number to Fox News.
From MarketWatch • May 14, 2026
The problems and pressures faced by historic societies are very different from those that confronted peoples in the Paleolithic or Neolithic eras.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
