historical

[ hi-stawr-i-kuhl, -stor- ]
/ hɪˈstɔr ɪ kəl, -ˈstɒr- /

adjective

of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
based on or reconstructed from an event, custom, style, etc., in the past: a historical reenactment of the battle of Gettysburg.
having once existed or lived in the real world, as opposed to being part of legend or fiction or as distinguished from religious belief: to doubt that a historical Camelot ever existed; a theologian's study of the historical Jesus.
narrated or mentioned in history; belonging to the past.
noting or pertaining to analysis based on a comparison among several periods of development of a phenomenon, as in language or economics.

Origin of historical

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin historic(us) historic + -al1

SYNONYMS FOR historical

3 documented, authentic, factual, attested.

OTHER WORDS FROM historical

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH historical

historic historical hysterical

Example sentences from the Web for historical

British Dictionary definitions for historical

historical
/ (hɪˈstɒrɪkəl) /

adjective

belonging to or typical of the study of history historical methods
concerned with or treating of events of the past historical accounts
based on or constituting factual material as distinct from legend or supposition
based on or inspired by history a historical novel
occurring or prominent in history
a less common word for historic (def. 1)

Derived forms of historical

historically, adverb historicalness, noun