historicn.adj.
/hɪˈstɒrɪk/, U.S. /hɪˈstɔrɪk/ A. n.† 2. A historian. Obsolete.
1. A historical work or subject; a history. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > historical painting > a historical painting
storyc1400
history?1521
history piece1683
historic1830
1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xi. f. 27 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.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 409 A notable historic [Fr. Notable histoire] of the death of Ferdinando the 4.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 9 But concerning the supposed copulation of serpents and Lampreys, I will not meddle in this place, reseruing that discourse to the historic of fishes.
1830 H. Angelo Reminisc. (new ed.) I. 203 He had tried all branches and attempted all styles; historics, landscape, familiar subjects.
2000 Wasafiri Autumn 16/1 The dark-olive leather-bound chairs and pictures on the wall of North-west London historics.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [noun] > historian
historian?a1439
historierc1449
historician1531
historic1599
historianess1683
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > historical narrative > [noun] > historian
historian?a1439
historierc1449
storierc1449
story writer?c1475
histographera1513
historician1531
historiographer1542
historic1599
historianess1683
memorialist1711
logographer1846
logograph1862
1599 ‘T. Cutwode’ Caltha Poetarum Pref. sig. A5 Pollished Daniel the Historick.
1611 H. Broughton Require of Agreement 25 Eusebius being the common historique for the Church, telleth the common opinion for his time.
1687 H. Care Modest Enq. iv. 55 I leave the intelligent Reader to judg; since nothing is more common in Historics, than for the mistake of one to draw others into error.
B. adj.
1. Relating to history; concerned with past events; = historical adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [adjective] > dealing with or treating of history
historical?a1475
historic1594
society > communication > record > written record > historical record or chronicle > [adjective] > recording or dealing with history
historical?a1475
historic1594
chroniclering-
1594 J. Dickenson Arisbas sig. G3v An high-pac'd Muse treading a lofty march, leades honor enchaind in an Epique pen, grac'd with the furtherance of historique Clio.
1645 R. Baillie Dissuasive from Errours of Time Ep. Ded. sig. *2 My aym in these two is, and was in all the rest; First, in an historick way to set down the originall and progresse of the errour; next its compleat parts together in one table.
1675 J. Ogilby Britannia 28 That Eminent Piece of Historick Poetry, Poly-olbion.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. i. 306 Then grateful Greece with streaming eyes wou'd raise Historic Marbles, to record his praise.
1763 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting III. i. 12 John Freeman, An historic painter, was a rival of Fuller.
1812 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. (ed. 2) II. vii. viii. 222 Never did historic pen record a page of more complicated distress.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Ess. 1st Ser. xi. 314 The possession of real historic power.
1922 M. L. Robinson Juvenile Story Writing ii. 32 All these components of historic fiction make for a whole which has a strong appeal to the youthful mind.
1967 Civic Amenities Act c. 69 § 1(1) Areas of special architectural or historic interest.
1993 High Life (Brit. Airways) Sept. 18/1 A sort of historic theme park with..a replica of the tiny ship in which the colonists arrived from England.
2. Belonging to, constituting, or of the nature of history; in accordance with history; = historical adj. 1a.In later use sometimes contrasted with prehistoric.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [adjective]
historialc1395
storialc1405
historical?a1475
historiousc1487
historic1610
historiological1716
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [adjective] > of the nature of history
historical1591
historic1610
1610 J. Selden Duello v. 18 In the time historique, when the great Iusting at Carthage in Spaine was appointed by Scipio.
1669 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. I ii. viii. 111 Evident from sacred Historic Observation.
1700 M. Prior Carmen Sæculare 2 With Equal Justice and Historic Care Their Laws, their Toils, their Arms with His compare.
1782 Brit. Mag. & Rev. 1 175/1 Biographic and historic truth compels us to record the disunion of this chaste, this holy connection.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps Pref. To make myself better acquainted..with the historic aspect of the question.
1873 H. Rogers Superhuman Origin Bible (1875) i. 36 The miracles imputed to the historic Christ.
1907 I. Zangwill Ghetto Comedies 391 ‘The unconditional historic necessity will carry us on of itself towards a better social state.’ ‘There you go with your Marx and your Hegel!’
1939 L. H. Gray Found. Lang. 359 In the historic period, Semitic possesses..two aspects.
1984 Man 19 362 Whether or not the prehistoric ‘Moa-hunters’ were related to the historic Maori.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) vii. 157 A renovator of historic buildings with an expensive taste in wallpaper.
3. Having or likely to have great historical importance or fame; having a significance due to connection with historical events. N.E.D. (1898) calls this ‘the prevailing current sense’, but the other senses remain common. In predicative use or with intensifiers this is the most usual sense.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > worthy of notice > historic
historic1756
historical1782
history-making1838
1756 H. Walpole Let. Aug. in Private Corr. (1820) II. 1 Sights are thick sown in the counties of York and Nottingham: the former is more historic.
1779 H. Walpole Let. 16 Nov. in Private Corr. (1820) IV. 193 Gloucestershire is a very historic country.
a1794 E. Gibbon Memoirs in Misc. Wks. (1796) I. 30 My first introduction to the historic scenes, which have since engaged so many years of my life.
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. iv. ii. 510 That historic ground, and the moss-grown sculptures with which it is paved.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. v. 349 A Norman castle and a Norman cathedral rose and fell on that historic spot.
1918 K. L. Bosher Kitty Canary v. 24 The place we went to is very historic and interesting.
1943 Times 30 Oct. 5/4 The blitz, the evacuation, the dispersal of industries have combined to present us with a historic opportunity.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Nov. 14/2 Great pains were taken to ensure the success of this historic occasion.
1991 Geographical Feb. 2/2 Next year is the quincentenary of that historic voyage.
4. Grammar. Designating any of various tenses and moods used in the narration of past events, esp. the Latin and Greek imperfect and pluperfect, the Greek aorist, and the Latin perfect when used with an aorist sense; = secondary adj. and n. Additions. Opposed to primary, principal. historic present n. the present tense when used instead of the past in vivid narration. historic infinitive n. (in Latin) the infinitive when used instead of the indicative in the narration of past events.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > historic
historical1711
historic1787
secondary1813
1787 Ld. Monboddo Of Origin & Progress of Lang. IV. i. x. 87 They are both used without distinction as the historic tense, in the same manner as the aorist in Greek.
1845 W. E. Jelf Gram. Greek Lang. (1851) II. 52 The relative tenses are divided into Principal (Present, Perfect, and Future) and Historic Tenses (Imperfect, Pluperfect, and Future exactum).
1871 Public Sch. Lat. Primer §117 The Infinitive used predicatively for a Finite Verb, and called the Historic Infinitive.
1879 H. J. Roby Gram. Lat. Lang. §1457 The Present tense expresses..An action in past time, but rhetorically assumed to be present. This is frequent in vivid narrations. (Historic present.)
1919 A. Werner Introd. Sketch Bantu Lang. 255 The pronoun a..is prefixed to the ‘Historic Aorist’ and the Subjunctive.
1955 Classical Q. 5 81 Their use in principal clauses with the optative and historic tenses of the indicative.
1986 Classical Rev. 36 137 H. takes ruere as historic infinitive rather than as aorist indicative.
2001 J. A. Burrow & T. Turville-Petre Bk. Middle Eng. (new ed.) i. v. 46 The historic present..becomes common in the later fourteenth century, particularly in narrative of past events in order to place reader and writer in the middle of the action:..‘there comes in at the hall door a fearsome knight’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1566