Historical is used as the general term for describing history, such as 'the historical record,' while historic is now usually reserved for important and famous moments in history, such as 'a historic battle.'

HISTORIC definition: well-known or important in history. See examples of historic used in a sentence.

Historic refers to that which is associated with significant events in history: the historic first voyage to the moon. Thus, a historic house is likely to be of interest not just because it is relatively old, but because …

Historic means ‘important or likely to be important in history’: … Authorities and meteorologists described the flooding as historic and the worst seen in the region apart from that spawned by …

Oct 23, 2025 · Adjective historic (comparative more historic, superlative most historic) Very important; noteworthy: having importance or significance in history.

Something that is historic is important in history, or likely to be considered important at some time in the future. King gave this historic speech the night before he was assassinated. ...a fourth historic …

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025 his•tor•ic (hi stôr′ ik, -stor′ -), adj. World History well-known or important in history: a historic building; historic occasions. …

Mar 15, 2024 · What does historical mean? Unlike historic, historical does not imply something of particular importance. It simply means that something is relating to history.

History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and …

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 …