- historical
- historic his*tor"ic (h[i^]s*t[o^]r"[i^]k), historical
his*tor"ic*al (h[i^]s*t[o^]r"[i^]*kal), a. [L. historicus, Gr.
"istoriko`s: cf. F. historique. See {History}.]
Of or pertaining to history, or the record of past events;
as, an historical poem; the historic page. --
{His*tor"ic*al*ness}, n. -- {His*to*ric"i*ty}, n.
[1913 Webster]
There warriors frowning in historic brass. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
2. having once lived, existed, or taken place in the real world; -- contrasted with {legendary}; as, the historical Jesus; doubt that a historical Camelot every existed; actual historical events. [WordNet 1.5]
3. Belonging to the past; as, historical (or historic) times; a historical character. [WordNet 1.5]
4. Within the period of time recorded in written documents; as, within historic times. Opposite of {prehistoric}.
Syn: diachronic. [WordNet 1.5]
5. (Linguistics) Same as {diachronic}. {synchronic} [WordNet 1.5]
{Historical painting}, that branch of painting which represents the events of history.
{Historical sense}, that meaning of a passage which is deduced from the circumstances of time, place, etc., under which it was written.
{The historic sense}, the capacity to conceive and represent the unity and significance of a past era or age. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
