Confusable words

historic vs historical: what's the difference?

historic
adjective
vs
historical
adjective
? ?

Historic and historical look almost identical, but one means important and the other simply means related to the past.

Historic

adjective

Historic describes something important or famous in history, a turning point.

  • The signing of the treaty was a historic moment.
  • This is a historic building from the 1700s.

historic full definition →

Historical

adjective

Historical simply means relating to the past or to history in general, without implying importance.

  • She's writing a historical novel set in the 1800s.
  • These are historical records from the local archive.

historical full definition →

Side by side

historic historical
What it means Important, a major event Simply relating to the past
Every past event is... Not necessarily historic Always historical
Simple test "a historic win" means a famous, important win "historical data" means data from the past, no importance implied

Quick rule

Historic means important enough to be remembered. Historical just means it happened in the past. Every historic event is historical, but not every historical event is historic.

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