historic

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-shattering
Ant:
insignificant
••
historic, historical
Historical, 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.

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  • historic — historic, historical Both words are used to mean ‘of or concerning history, belonging to the past rather than the present’, but historical is the more objective word denoting something that happened in the past, whereas historic describes not… …   Modern English usage

  • historic — historic, historical are sometimes distinguished in meaning. Historic is used when the idea of association with history in the sense of being celebrated, well known, or deserving to be well known is stressed {we shall visit many historic spots on …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • historic — his*tor ic (h[i^]s*t[o^]r [i^]k), historical his*tor ic*al (h[i^]s*t[o^]r [i^]*kal), a. [L. historicus, Gr. istoriko s: cf. F. historique. See {History}.] Of or pertaining to history, or the record of past events; as, an historical poem; the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • historic — 1660s, probably a back formation from HISTORICAL (Cf. historical), perhaps influenced by Fr. historique. What is historic is noted or celebrated in history; what is historical deals with history …   Etymology dictionary

  • historic — [his tôr′ik, histär′ik] adj. [L historicus < Gr historikos] 1. having, or likely to have, lasting significance or importance [a historic occasion] 2. Now Rare HISTORICAL …   English World dictionary

  • historic — index traditional Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • historic — [adj] momentous, remarkable celebrated, consequential, extraordinary, famous, important, memorable, notable, outstanding, red letter*, significant, well known; concepts 548,568 Ant. unimportant, unremarkable …   New thesaurus

  • historic — ► ADJECTIVE 1) famous or important in history, or potentially so. 2) Grammar (of a tense) used in relating past events …   English terms dictionary

  • historic — his|tor|ic [hıˈstɔrık US ˈsto: , ˈsta: ] adj [usually before noun] 1.) a historic place or building is very old ▪ the restoration of historic buildings ▪ ancient historic sites ▪ our historic monuments 2.) a historic event or act is very… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • historic */*/ — UK [hɪˈstɒrɪk] / US [hɪˈstɔrɪk] adjective 1) a) a historic place is important because it is old and interesting or impressive the historic city of York areas of special architectural or historic interest historic monument/building: Tourists like… …   English dictionary

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