Word Study
historical
CIDE DICTIONARY
historical, a. [L. historicus, Gr. "istoriko`s: cf. F. historique. See History.].
- Of or pertaining to history, or the record of past events; as, an historical poem; the historic page. [1913 Webster]" There warriors frowning in historic brass." [1913 Webster]
- having once lived, existed, or taken place in the real world; -- contrasted with
legendary ; as, the historical Jesus; doubt that a historical Camelot every existed; actual historical events. [WordNet 1.5] - Belonging to the past; as, historical (or historic) times; a historical character. [WordNet 1.5]
- Within the period of time recorded in written documents; as, within historic times. Opposite of
prehistoric . [WordNet 1.5] - Same as diachronic. [WordNet 1.5]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
historical, adj.
1 of or concerning history (historical evidence).
2 belonging to history, not to prehistory or legend.
3 (of the study of a subject) based on an analysis of its development over a period.
4 belonging to the past, not the present.
5 (of a novel, a film, etc.) dealing or professing to deal with historical events.
6 in connection with history, from the historian's point of view (of purely historical interest).
1 of or concerning history (historical evidence).
2 belonging to history, not to prehistory or legend.
3 (of the study of a subject) based on an analysis of its development over a period.
4 belonging to the past, not the present.
5 (of a novel, a film, etc.) dealing or professing to deal with historical events.
6 in connection with history, from the historian's point of view (of purely historical interest).
Derivative
historically adv.
THESAURUS
historical
absolute, actual, admitting no question, ascertained, attested, authentic, authenticated, autobiographical, biographical, categorically true, certain, certified, chronologic, confirmable, confirmed, corroborated, de facto, demonstrable, demonstratable, demonstrated, determined, documentary, documented, effectual, established, factual, for real, genuine, hagiographic, historic, historied, historiographic, honest-to-God, inappealable, incontestable, incontrovertible, indisputable, indubitable, irrefragable, irrefutable, legendary, martyrologic, not in error, objectively true, positive, provable, proved, real, recorded, reliable, self-evident, substantial, substantiated, sure-enough, testable, traditional, true, true as gospel, truthful, unanswerable, unconfutable, unconfuted, undeniable, undenied, undoubted, unerroneous, unfallacious, unfalse, unimpeachable, unmistaken, unquestionable, unrefutable, unrefuted, validated, veracious, verifiable, verified, veritableFor further exploring for "historical" in Webster Dictionary Online