historical

[ hi-stawr-i-kuhl, -stor- ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events:

   historical records;

   historical research.

2. based on or reconstructed from an event, custom, style, etc., in the past:

   a historical reenactment of the battle of Gettysburg.

3. having once existed or lived in the real world, as opposed to being part of legend or fiction or as distinguished from religious belief:

   Scholars doubt that a historical Camelot ever existed.

   Her thesis was an overview of how theologians have studied the historical Jesus.

   Synonyms: factual, authentic

4. narrated or mentioned in history; belonging to the past:

   He cited several historical examples of international conflict resolution.

5. relating to or involving analysis based on a comparison among several periods of development of a phenomenon, as in language or economics:

   She taught a course in historical linguistics.

6. historic ( def 1 ).

historical

/ hɪˈstɒrɪkəl /

adjective

1. belonging to or typical of the study of history

   historical methods

2. concerned with or treating of events of the past

   historical accounts

3. based on or constituting factual material as distinct from legend or supposition
4. based on or inspired by history

   a historical novel

5. occurring or prominent in history
6. a less common word for historic

Derived Forms

• hisˈtoricalness, noun
• hisˈtorically, adverb

Other Words From

• his·tor·i·cal·ly adverb
• his·tor·i·cal·ness noun
• an·ti·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• an·ti·his·tor·i·cal·ness noun
• non·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• non·his·tor·i·cal·ness noun
• pseu·do·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• qua·si-his·tor·i·cal adjective
• sem·i·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• su·per·his·tor·i·cal adjective
• un·his·tor·i·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of historical¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin historic(us) historic ( def ) + -al ¹( def )

Example Sentences

It’s certainly well beyond the power of any docudrama to take it in whole, and the strength of FX’s “Say Nothing” — a nine-episode historical drama now streaming on Hulu — is that it doesn’t try to.

From Los Angeles Times

“Say Nothing” is a historical limited series about a war fought in neighborhood streets and on doorsteps, in a country the rest of the world believes is at peace.

From Salon

The content recorded on Belfast Project tapes was meant as a historical record of a history left intentionally untold, guaranteed anonymity for its participants, who were assured they’d only be released after the last interviewee died.

From Salon

Now, politicians, newscasters, podcast hosts and white nationalists were picking up his ideas about pollution and scarcity, immigration and global warming, that fit their agendas, swirling them together with historical tropes about ecology and racist thought and conspiracy theories, not sure, necessarily, where the ideas had come from but eager to trade on their currency.

From Salon

The country performer’s stories about music are rife with the minute observations and historical tidbits absorbed and disseminated by die-hard fans.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• actual
• ancient
• archival
• classical
• factual
• real