Historic vs Historical

  • Editors methodology guideline

Historical as adjective

Historical was derived from Greek historikos meaning past and is used as an adjective in English language to describe the nouns. When someone or something is concerned with past events or history, that person or thing is historic. The historical evidence indicates a civilization in this place. The term historical is also describe to imply a belonging of something to the past. The study of a subject that is based on an analysis of its development over a period of time is called historical.

For the Darwinians, biogeography became a historical science.

Historic as adjective

Something or someone of very much importance in the past or potentially so. The area’s numerous historic sites are a sight for the eyes. Something which is concerned with the history or the past.

The historic figure of Mother Teresa is evident of the historical personalities.


Name

Historic vs Historical

Description

The words historical and historic were synonymous to each other back in the 18th century meaning something that belonged to or is representative of the past. Historic was used as a shortened form of historical but the difference between the two started diverging over time. In the early 19th century, the difference between the two had solidified and so did the confusion and misinterpretation of both the words. People confused one for the other, or used both in the same context as before. Now a days, the distinction between historical and historic is well established and strike the experts if any one of the word is used wrongly. It is very common and customary for amateur writers to mix historic and historical for each other. One memory trick to remember when to use which word is to keep it in mind that any past event is historical but only the most important and memorable ones are historic. The ‘ic’ at the end of historical starts with i and so does important, so historic is important thing of the past. The ‘al’ at the end of historical starts with an a and so does ‘all’, so historical is for all the events of the past.

Types

Editors methodology guideline

Obligation Level

Recommended

Priority

Urgent

Summary

Both words are adjectives used to describe something related to the past, but the correct word is determined by the significance of the noun being described. Historic = Historic is a word used to describe a specific event in history—such as a significant occurrence, decision, or moment—that has become or has the potential to become famous or significant. Historical = Historical means any past event or occurrence that has happened, whether it was significant or not.