historical
Often confused with historic
- 1Connected with the past in a general way.
Our town museum shows historical tools that farmers used long ago.
We learned about the historical reasons behind the holiday.
UsageHistorical usually means about the past. Historic means important in history: a historic day.
Oppositecontemporary, modern
- 2Connected with real people or events from recorded history, rather than legends, myths, or fiction.
Like knowing a story really happened, instead of it being a fairy tale.
Historians argued about whether the king was a historical figure or just a legend.
Was King Arthur a historical person, or just a character in old legends?
UsageWe say a historical figure for a real person from the past. For something important in history, say historic.
Oppositelegendary, mythical, fictional, fictitious
Note
- 3About people and events from the past, like a novel or film set long ago.
Like a movie that shows things that really happened long ago.
She wrote a historical novel about the French Revolution.
The gallery is full of historical paintings of famous battles.
UsageWe say historical novel or historical film for a story set long ago.
Note
- 4Important enough to be remembered as part of history.
Landing on the moon was a historical event for all of humankind.
The crowd in the square knew they were living through a historical day for their country.
UsageMost people say historic for this: a historic moment.
Similarhistoric
Oppositeinsignificant, unimportant, trivial
Note
- 5Connected with the study of history as a subject.
Like the careful work scientists do, but for the past instead of nature.
She does historical research in the university library.
The class learned about historical methods used to study old documents.
Note
Less common meanings
- 6
- 7Describing a verb tense or mood used to tell about past events.
Like telling a past story as if it is happening right now.
The writer used the historical present to make the old story feel alive.
We learned about the historical tense in our grammar class.
Similarhistoric
Note
- 8Passed down from parents, or slowly developing over many generations.
Note
- 9A love-story novel that takes place in the past.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of historical apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Latin historicus, meaning "historical," plus the ending "-al." You can also see it as "history" plus "-ical."
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Historical comes from Latin historicus, meaning “historical,” combined with the ending -al. en.wiktionary.org
- Historical can be analyzed on the surface as history plus -ical. en.wiktionary.org