Historic
adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A history, a non-fiction account of the past. obsolete
"Before the beginnyng of this historic, I haue thought good by waie of a Proeme, to introduce the wordes of an excellent writer called Lodouicus Caelius Rhodoginus."
- 2 A historian. obsolete
- 1 Very important; noteworthy: having importance or significance in history.
"A historic opportunity"
- 2 Old-fashioned, untouched by modernity.
"Sights are thick sown in the counties of York and Nottingham: the former is more historic."
- 3 Synonym of historical: of, concerning, or in accordance with recorded history or the past generally (See usage notes.) uncommon
"An high-pac'd Muse treading a lofty march, leades honor enchaind in an Epique pen, grac'd with the furtherance of historique Clio."
- 4 Various grammatical tenses and moods specially used in retelling past events.
"The historic tenses include the imperfect, the pluperfect, and the future perfect."
- 1 important in history wordnet
- 2 belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past wordnet
Example
More examples"A record number of shares changed hands in busy trading as prices soared to a historic high."
Etymology
From Latin historicus (“historical”), from Ancient Greek ἱστορικός (historikós, “exact; historical”). Cognate with French historique. By surface analysis, history + -ic.
Related phrases
More for "historic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.