- historic
- adjective
the historic first flight at Kitty Hawk
Syn:significant, notable, important, momentous, consequential, memorable, newsworthy, unforgettable, remarkable; famous, famed, celebrated, renowned, legendary; landmark, sensational, groundbreaking, epoch-making, red-letter, earth-shatteringAnt:insignificant••historic, historicalHistorical, meaning "of or relating to or occurring in history", is called upon for use far more frequently than historic. Historic means "historically significant" the Alamo is a historic building. An event that makes history is historic; momentous happenings or developments are historic — e.g.: "The Supreme Court's historic decision about whether mentally competent, dying patients and their doctors have the right to hasten death won't be known for months." (USA Today, Jan. 10, 1997). A documented fact, event, or development — perhaps having no great importance — is historical. E.g.: "Despite the historical data, some people just don't feel comfortable knowing their loan's rate can drift up 5 or 6 points." (Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 24, 1997). Examples of historic used incorrectly for historical could easily run for several pages — e.g.: "The Sunday Trading Act, which formally became law yesterday, removes historic [read historical] anomalies of the kind that allowed shopkeepers to sell pornographic magazines but not Bibles on the Sabbath, and instant but not ground coffee." (Times (London), Aug. 27, 1994). "The odds are now on a further easing of monetary policy and there is a good historic [read historical] correlation between falling interest rates and a rising stock market." (Financial Times, June 13, 1996). "Rape is also an historic [read a historical] soldiers’ sport." (Harper's Magazine, Jan. 2003). The far less common mistake is misusing historical for historic — e.g.: "Gary Pinkel didn't know what to expect after Toledo and Nevada found themselves going into a historical [read historic] overtime in the Las Vegas Bowl." (Austin Am.-Statesman, Dec. 16, 1995). BG
Thesaurus of popular words. 2014.