historical
Use the adjective historical to describe something that happened in the past, like the historical details of your ancestors' immigration to the United States.
When you're talking about events in the past, you can call them historical. Civil War reenactors might work hard to research the perfect historical costumes, and set designers for period films try to recreate rooms with historical accuracy, making them look just like they would have in the past. The word historical traces back to the Greek word historia, "a learning by inquiry, history, or record."
Definitions of historical
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of or relating to the study of history“historical scholars”“a historical perspective”
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Antonyms:
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ahistorical
unconcerned with or unrelated to history or to historical development or to tradition
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ahistorical
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used of the study of a phenomenon (especially language) as it changes through time
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synonyms:
diachronic
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Antonyms:
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synchronic
concerned with phenomena (especially language) at a particular period without considering historical antecedents
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synchronal, synchronic, synchronous
occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase
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synchronic
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belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past
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having once lived or existed or taken place in the real world as distinct from being legendary
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘historical'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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Commonly confused words
historic / historical
Something historic has a great importance to human history. Something historical is related to the past. People with big egos get them mixed up if they say they had a historic family background. Unless they helped win a war, it was probably just historical.
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