HISTORICAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does historical mean? 

• HISTORICAL (adjective)
  The adjective HISTORICAL has 4 senses:

1. of or relating to the study of history

2. having once lived or existed or taken place in the real world as distinct from being legendary

3. belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past

4. used of the study of a phenomenon (especially language) as it changes through time

  Familiarity information: HISTORICAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HISTORICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the study of history

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

a historical perspective

Antonym:

ahistorical (unconcerned with or unrelated to history or to historical development or to tradition)

Pertainym:

history (the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings)

Derivation:

historicalness (significance owing to its history)

history (the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having once lived or existed or taken place in the real world as distinct from being legendary

Context example:

actual historical events

Similar:

existent; real (being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory)

Derivation:

historicalness (the state of having in fact existed in the past)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past

Synonyms:

historic; historical

Context example:

a historical character

Similar:

past (earlier than the present time; no longer current)

Derivation:

historicalness (significance owing to its history)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Used of the study of a phenomenon (especially language) as it changes through time

Synonyms:

diachronic; historical

Context example:

diachronic linguistics

Domain category:

language; linguistic communication (a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols)

Derivation:

historicalness (significance owing to its history)

 Context examples 

A data type comprised of a collection of items that are arranged in historical order.

(History Data Type, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

An explanation of the historical origins of a word, phrase, or object.

(Deriving, NCI Thesaurus)

However, considering such historical events allows scientists and engineers to understand the effects of space weather on our infrastructure and technical systems.

(Space Weather Events Linked to Human Activity, NASA)

As with many human viruses, this is largely due to a lack of historical evidence which has been difficult to locate and identify.

(Oldest genetic evidence of Hepatitis B virus found in ancient DNA from 4,500 year-old skeletons, University of Cambridge)

EXAMPLE(S): placebo, active, historical, uncontrolled, dose comparison

(Interventional Study Protocol Version Control Type Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

A data type comprised of information concerning the historical aspects of a particular value.

(Historical Data Type, NCI Thesaurus)

"I claim the honor," said he, "to be the first to cross to the unknown land—a fitting subject, no doubt, for some future historical painting."

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Specifies whether the condition is considered part of the historical record of a subject, that is, it did not occur within the bounds of the study.

(Performed Medical Condition Result Medical History Indicator, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

And I finished all with a brief historical account of affairs and events in England for about a hundred years past.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The archaeological and historical research conducted on this project has shown that there were acequias de careo operating in Sierra Nevada as early as the 11th Century.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)