historically

adverb his·tor·i·cal·ly \ hi-ˈstȯr-i-k(ə-)lē , -ˈstär- \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of historically

1 : in accordance with or with respect to history

an historically accurate account

2 : in the past

historically, stagnant cities seldom have recovered
—Jane Jacobs

Recent Examples of historically from the Web

The United States has, historically, been responsible for the creation of most of the greenhouse gas emissions released into the Earth’s atmosphere.

— emily atkin, The New Republic, "Undoing American Climate Diplomacy," 11 Apr. 2018
But Harajuku fashion has, historically, comprised styles like Lolita, a doll-like sort of subset of kawaii, goth, and cyberpunk, among others.

— katherine cusumano, Teen Vogue, "Bella Hadid Has a "Harajuku" Alter Ego on Instagram Named Rebekka," 10 Apr. 2018
But what’s remarkable about the recent venom, according to Texas A&M professor of political rhetoric Jennifer Mercieca is, historically, from the Boston Tea Party on, Americans without power resort to incivility in a last-ditch effort to be heard.

— ashley merryman, Washington Post, "President Trump’s worst behaviors can infect us all just like the flu, according to science.," 29 Mar. 2018
Well, shutting off the testosterone valve has, historically, been pretty disastrous.

— sarah jacoby, SELF, "Hold On Everyone, Male Birth Control Still Isn't Happening Anytime Soon," 22 Mar. 2018
Mississippi, historically, has had a long list of Democrats elected to the Senate, but that has not happened since 1989, almost 30 years ago, when Sen. John C. Stennis held a seat.

— brooke singman, Fox News, "Mississippi governor appoints Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill Cochran's vacant Senate seat," 21 Mar. 2018
But there’s also an economic calculus, a lack of discipline, historically.

— recode staff, Recode, "‘Get Out’ producer Jason Blum talks about Netflix, low-budget movies and the Oscars," 15 Mar. 2018
Which, historically, isn't a good bet: Satellite internet providers haven't had a great run, financially.

— sarah scoles, WIRED, "Maybe Nobody Wants Your Space Internet," 15 Mar. 2018
John Bach, public works director, said historically, Highland lacked a diversity of tree species, planting many that could pose problems.

— craig lyons, Post-Tribune, "Highland moves forward with plan to diversify tree population," 9 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'historically.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.