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.

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. a less common word for historic

Other Word Forms

• historically adverb
• historicalness noun
• antihistorical adjective
• antihistoricalness noun
• nonhistorical adjective
• nonhistoricalness noun
• pseudohistorical adjective
• quasi-historical adjective
• semihistorical adjective
• superhistorical adjective
• unhistorical 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

According to park advocates, the decision led to vandalism in parks, as visitors drove through protected landscapes, looted historical sites, and rampantly littered.

From BBC

We interviewed a further four families who all had stories of similar concerns - but they were all historical.

From BBC

Anderson employs many of the strategies of his historical films to evocative results, creating a distorted dystopia out of modern times.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s not just that the cuts to these programs are massive by historical standards.

From Los Angeles Times

Those 50-plus presidential addresses have been all over the map in terms of expressed ideology and historical value.

From Salon

Related Words

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