historical

adjective

his·​tor·​i·​cal hi-ˈstȯr-i-kəl How to pronounce historical (audio)
-ˈstär-
1
a
: of, relating to, or having the character of history
historical data
b
: based on history
historical novels
c
: used in the past and reproduced in historical presentations
2
: famous in history : historic sense a
3
b
: diachronic
historical grammar
historicalness noun

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).

Examples of historical in a Sentence

He strove for historical accuracy in the movie. The kings are listed in historical order.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Further, as shown in the historical data, periods of a weaker US dollar do not uniformly lead to higher US Treasury bond yields. Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025 Most of it is invented, but the beginning was inspired by historical incidents. Deborah Treisman, New Yorker, 25 May 2025 The 922 reports logged through late May is 281 more than the historical average of 641 for this time of year, the outlet said. Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 25 May 2025 The Assemblies of God asserts that Adam and Eve were historical people. Peter Smith, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for historical

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of historical was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Historical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/historical. Accessed 29 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

historical

adjective
his·​tor·​i·​cal his-ˈtȯr-i-kəl How to pronounce historical (audio)
-ˈtär-
1
a
: of, relating to, or having the character of history
historical fact
b
: based on history
historical novels
c
: of, relating to, or exhibiting objects from the past
a historical museum
2
historically
-i-k(ə-)lē
adverb
historicalness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on historical

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