Historic vs. Historical – How to Use Each Correctly
What’s the Difference Between Historic and Historical?
Contents
Historic and historical are two adjective that both relate to the context of history. However, they have slightly different definitions.
Historic describes an event that is famous or important in history.
- December 18, 1865 was the historic day that slavery was abolished in America.
Historical describes anything related to history, regardless of its importance.
- Historical records show the popularity of different toothpaste brands across the decades.
Now, let’s go over a few ways to use these words in English.
Using Historic in a Sentence
When to use historic: Historic is an adjective which describes well-known and significant events from the past. It can also describe something that is the highest or lowest in recorded history.
For example,
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic I Have a Dream speech inspired many people across America to fight for equal rights for all Americans.
- Summer temperatures dropped to historic lows this year.
Historic can refer to anything of great importance in history, but it often has a positive connotation. This is because negative, important events often use the word infamous. Historic is also very common to describe buildings and places that have historical significance.
Using Historical in a Sentence
When to use historical: Historical is an adjective that means related to history and refers to information or data from the past.
For example,
- Many people are interested in learning more about their family history, and refer to historical records about immigrants to trace back their family lineage.
- Historical evidence suggests that the slaves freed after the Civil War faced a myriad of difficulties.
Common collocates with historical include society, context, cultural, events, perspective, records, evidence and fiction. Historical societies are those which seek to preserve history. Historical fiction is a literary genre that consists of imagined events rather than true events, that is set during a past period of history.
Remembering Historic vs. Historical
Although these words have related meanings, there is an important distinction between the two. The spelling of each word can help you remember which word matches with each definition.
Historic ends with the letters ic, just like the word epic. Since epic refers to something impressive, great, or important this can help you remember that historic specifically means the important or famous events or places in history.
Historical ends with the letters ical, just like the word typical. Since typical means normal or average, this can help remind you that historical events are simply any events from history, not necessarily important ones.
Outside Examples
- Her determination to once again sprint with the roar of game day in reaching a historic 50th milestone would be determined over the next 24 hours. –Denver Post
- The meeting between the Los Angeles Chargers — in their first game since the controversial move from San Diego — and the Broncos in Denver will represent a proud, historic occasion for the league. –New York Post
- Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer stands by the historical account that Nimoy asked to have Spock killed off because he truly intended to leave the franchise and the character. –USA Today
- As Hurricane Irma nears the Key West, it’s expected to break several historical records — including the first time the U.S. has been struck by two Category 4 hurricanes in the same year, following Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the Weather Channel reports. –LA Times
Quiz: Historic vs. Historical
Instructions: Fill in the blank with the correct word, historic or historical, in the correct form.
- On our field trip to Boston, the students will tour many ________________ locations, such as the home of Paul Revere.
- ___________________ data shows records of which spices were imported and exported from Egypt.
- This ______________ day shall be forever remembered as the first day of world peace!
- The history major needed to look up ___________ records from library databases in order to get the raw data she needed from the 1950’s and complete her research paper.
- July 4th is a ___________________ day in America, because it marks the very important occasion when the country first declared its independence from Britain.
See answers below.
Article Summary
Should I use historic or historical? Although both of these words relate to history, they do not have the exact same meaning.
- Historic refers to significant buildings or locations related to history, or any important or famous event.
- Historical simply refers to information about the past.
Use the information above to keep these two words straight.
Answers
- historic
- Historical
- historic
- historical
- historic