Historical

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /hɪˈstɒɹɪkÉ™l/
• GenAm IPA: /hɪˈstɔːɹɪkÉ™l/

Origin

From historic + -al.

Full definition of historical

Adjective

1. Pertaining to the history, to what happened in the past.

Usage notes

See the usage notes about historic for more.

Synonyms

• historic

Derived terms

• ahistorical
• art-historical

Noun

1. A historical romance.
• 1999, Anne K. Kaler, Rosemary E. Johnson-Kurek, Romantic Conventions, page 63:However, as regular romance readers know, the romance novels that appear on the best-seller lists are not Harlequins at all, but rather historicals and contemporaries, which vary widely from the Harlequin pattern in style, plot, and character.