historic

adjective

his·tor·ic hi-ˈstȯr-ik

-ˈstär-

Synonyms of historic next

: historical: such as

: famous or important in history

historic battlefields

: having great and lasting importance

a historic occasion

: known or established in the past

historic interest rates

: dating from or preserved from a past time or culture

historic buildings

historic artifacts

Did you know?

historic or historical?

Do you experience a slight pause before using either of these words as you try to remember which one is correct and whether it should be preceded by an or a? If so, you’re not alone, for many people find this pair particularly tricky. Historic and historical are both occasionally found preceded by an, since the initial h in each word was formerly left unpronounced. Now this h is heard, and a is far more common than an (by a ratio of about 4 to 1 in American English).

Historic and historical have been used interchangeably by many writers, even in recent years. If you would like to avoid being corrected, however, use historical for matters relating to history (the historical society), and historic to refer to things having great and lasting importance (a historic occasion).

Examples of historic in a Sentence

It's wonderful to see so many people here on this historic occasion. She returned safely from her historic flight into space. The court made a historic decision last week. They know of many historic volcanic eruptions in the area. the historic importance of the river

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The album’s existence is historic, a reminder of how singular these two are in a studio. —

August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024 The festival and its Souk market had a new home this year in Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district. —

Leo Barraclough, Variety, 13 Dec. 2024 All of those things may hinder the group's capacity to mount a historic rebuilding effort. —

Lauren Frayer, NPR, 13 Dec. 2024 Through her connection to Nashville, Wilson was invited to perform on the PBS special Patsy Cline: Walkin’ After Midnight featuring a variety of artists (Wynonna, Pat Benatar, Ashley McBryde, Kristin Chenoweth, and others) performing Patsy Cline songs at the historic Ryman Auditorium. —

Pam Windsor, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for historic