historic

adjective

his·​tor·​ic hi-ˈstȯr-ik 

-ˈstär-

: historical: such as

a

: famous or important in history

historic battlefields

b

: having great and lasting importance

a historic occasion

c

: known or established in the past

historic interest rates

d

: dating from or preserved from a past time or culture

historic buildings

historic artifacts

Did you know?

historic or historical?

Do you experience a slight pause before using either of these words as you try to remember which one is correct and whether it should be preceded by an or a? If so, you’re not alone, for many people find this pair particularly tricky. Historic and historical are both occasionally found preceded by an, since the initial h in each word was formerly left unpronounced. Now this h is heard, and a is far more common than an (by a ratio of about 4 to 1 in American English).

Historic and historical have been used interchangeably by many writers, even in recent years. If you would like to avoid being corrected, however, use historical for matters relating to history (the historical society), and historic to refer to things having great and lasting importance (a historic occasion).

Synonyms

• major
• important
• significant
• big
• monumental

Examples of historic in a Sentence

It's wonderful to see so many people here on this historic occasion.

She returned safely from her historic flight into space.

The court made a historic decision last week.

They know of many historic volcanic eruptions in the area.

the historic importance of the river

Recent Examples on the Web

On Monday morning, Trump unveiled his plans, announcing a historic escalation of law enforcement in D.C. by deploying the National Guard to patrol the streets and placing the city’s police department under federal control. —John R. Lott Jr, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Aug. 2025

While the stock market soared to historic highs this week, the latest report from the consumer price index showed the cost of some everyday goods is climbing and the Federal Reserve announced that, across the board, inflation was unchanged. —Grace Miserocchi, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2025

Replays indicated the right-hander could’ve stopped and set his feet, but adrenaline amid a historic performance makes such clear thinking impossible. —Chandler Rome, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025

The brick building, built in 1882, once served as a bank, hotel, and hospital, providing plenty of remnants of historic charm. —Lauren Jones, Southern Living, 16 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for historic

• caloric
• dysphoric
• euphoric
• folkloric
• plethoric
• pyloric
• anaphoric
• metaphoric
• meteoric
• paregoric
• prehistoric
• pyrophoric

Kids Definition

historic

adjective

his·​tor·​ic his-ˈtȯr-ik 

-ˈtär-

1

: historical sense 1

2

: famous in history

historic events