adjective
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famous or likely to become famous in history; significant
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a less common word for historical historical historical historical historical
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Also: secondary. linguistics (of Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit verb tenses) referring to past time
Usage
A distinction is usually made between historic (important, significant) and historical (pertaining to history): a historic decision; a historical perspective
Other Word Forms
- nonhistoric adjective
- pseudohistoric adjective
- quasi-historic adjective
- semihistoric adjective
- superhistoric adjective
- unhistoric adjective
Etymology
Origin of historic
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin historicus, from Greek historikós “historical, scientific,” from histor(ía) “inquiry” ( history ) + -ikos -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He set it in London for reasons topographical — ”I needed a city that was on an island so it would be completely cut off” — and historic — ”in homage to Shakespeare.”
From Los Angeles Times
"None of our governments have survived their full terms in office in decades. These are historic elections," Nishchal N Pandey, director of the Centre for South Asian Studies in Nepal, told the BBC.
From BBC
For many, the elimination of the supreme leader appeared to represent a historic rupture - an opening that years of civil resistance had failed to achieve on its own.
From BBC
We stay for five or more nights, mostly in historic central cities, allowing us to explore on foot.
The rate of layoffs sits near a historic low right now, for one thing.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
