historic, historical || These words do not mean quite the same. Historic refers to fame or importance in history: Today will be remembered as a historic day in boxing. the conversion of historic barns into houses Historical is a less judgemental word that refers to something as a fact or to its connection with history: The historical fact is that the settlement of 1688?1701 failed to settle everything. Some people think of Sherlock Holmes as being an historical figure. || Note that you can use either a or an before both words; a is now more usual. |