Historic
Pronunciation
- RP IPA: /hɪˈstɒɹɪk/
- GenAm IPA: /hɪˈstÉ”Ëɹɪk/
- Rhymes: -ɒrɪk
Origin
From French historique
Full definition of historic
Adjective
historic
- Having importance or significance in history.
- Belonging to the past; historical (see note below).
Usage notes
The rule that "an" is used before vowel sounds is confounded by the wide variety in pronunciation (particularly regional) of the sometimes-silent h. For example, in the United States, the h generally is not silent. (See Semivowels for more details.)
Modern convention makes a distinction between historic and historical, although the two words are variants and have shared the same meanings for much of their history. Historic means "very important in history or having a long history", while historical refers to people who lived or events that occurred in the past, or refers to things that are connected with or found in the past. For example, a historic event is an important event of history, while a historical event is any event that happened in the past, whether important or not.
July 4, 1776 is a historic date. A great deal of historical research has been done on the events leading up to that day.
The historical works of Lord Macaulay and Edward Gibbon are in and of themselves historic.