18 January 2005

'historic' v. 'historical'

Small grammatical question resolved via Dictionary.com:

Usage Note: Historic and historical have different usages, though their senses overlap. Historic refers to what is important in history: the historic first voyage to the moon. It is also used of what is famous or interesting because of its association with persons or events in history: a historic house. Historical refers to whatever existed in the past, whether regarded as important or not: a minor historical character. Historical also refers to anything concerned with history or the study of the past: a historical novel; historical discoveries. While these distinctions are useful, these words are often used interchangeably, as in historic times or historical times.

Wait, maybe that should read small grammatic question. ... No, they're synonyms.

[ posted by sstrader on 18 January 2005 at 7:12:55 PM in Language & Literature ]