belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past
<adj.all> historic victories historical (or historic) times a historical character
important in history
<adj.all> the historic first voyage to outer space
historic \his*tor"ic\ (h[i^]s*t[o^]r"[i^]k), historical \his*tor"ic*al\ (h[i^]s*t[o^]r"[i^]*kal), a. [L. historicus, Gr. "istoriko`s: cf. F. historique. See {History}.] Of or pertaining to history, or the record of past events; as, an historical poem; the historic page. -- {His*tor"ic*al*ness}, n. -- {His*to*ric"i*ty}, n.
There warriors frowning in historic brass. --Pope.
2. having once lived, existed, or taken place in the real world; -- contrasted with {legendary}; as, the historical Jesus; doubt that a historical Camelot every existed; actual historical events. [WordNet 1.5]
3. Belonging to the past; as, historical (or historic) times; a historical character. [WordNet 1.5]
4. Within the period of time recorded in written documents; as, within historic times. Opposite of {prehistoric}.
Syn: diachronic. [WordNet 1.5]
5. (Linguistics) Same as {diachronic}. {synchronic} [WordNet 1.5]
{Historical painting}, that branch of painting which represents the events of history.
{Historical sense}, that meaning of a passage which is deduced from the circumstances of time, place, etc., under which it was written.
{The historic sense}, the capacity to conceive and represent the unity and significance of a past era or age.
The massive complex was completed 1,000 days later, standing in the heart of historic Berlin, its block-like dimensions and huge Communist insignia - a hammer and drafting compass - an eyesore to many.
But any Dukakis strategy without the South would require an electoral shift of historic proportions for a Democratic victory in November.
Russian suspicion of the West has historic roots that go deeper than Communism.
"We believe this will be the most historic auction of antique aircraft ever," museum President David Price said. "It's like mounting a Broadway show.
On Friday night, ABC's Peter Jennings and CBS' Dan Rather were also on the scene to report on East Germany's historic lifting of travel restrictions.
He had the packed sanctuary of his longtime pastorate, the historic Marble Collegiate Church, rolling with intermittant gales of laughter, applause and concentrated listening.
Archaeologists work side by side with firefighters, trying to preserve historic sites at Yellowstone National Park that have been threatened not only by fire but by the bulldozers sent in to halt them.
"We have the historic opportunity to get rid of the hoops so many Americans have to jump through to get registered," declares the bill's sponsor, Rep. Al Swift, D-Wash.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Sunday that he hopes the "historic mission" of a six-member Israeli delegation to Moscow would lead to the resumption of Israeli-Soviet ties severed in 1967.
It said those moves will "enhance shareholder value by building on Polaroid's historic strengths."
The only sign of the historic occasion was the pilot's announcement that all drinks would be free, the traditional airline gesture to mark a special occasion, usually an unexplained delay.
This weekend, thousands of church members from throughout the world met in the Tabernacle on Salt Lake City's historic Temple Square for the two-day conference.
From the time it was commissioned in 1926, it was something special to those who drove it and those living along it," Ashcroft said at a bill-signing ceremony Tuesday making Missouri the first state to give Route 66 historic status.
In the short term, though, prices could well dip below their historic trend, just as three years ago they surged above it.
The two Germanys signed a historic treaty that will bind them into a single economic entity in less than seven weeks and all but formally end their four-decade separation.
All the brilliant phases and historic oratory they crafted were credited to others.
While President Bush did carefully restate the historic U.S. policy of not recognizing incorporation of the Baltic nations into the Soviet Union, he gave Mr. Gorbachev his trade agreement despite his trade blockade of Lithuania.
A top Vatican official left Thursday for Moscow, apparently to help plan an historic meeting between Pope John Paul II and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Solidarity leader Lech Walesa flashed the victory sign as he arrived today to meet with countryman Pope John Paul II and seek Western aid for Poland in the wake of the historic reconcilation with his government.
"We see it as a truly historic victory, not only for Ford workers but for trade unionists up and down the country," Murphy said after nine and a half hours of talks.
The travel freedoms were granted last month after huge pro-democracy demonstrations that preceded the historic week of public rallies in Czechoslovakia.
Mr. Hodel made the designation despite the unanimous conclusion of the National Park Service Advisory Board that the site didn't merit an exception to its rule of waiting at least 50 years after a historic incident to designate a landmark.
Sir Peter Abeles, chief executive officer of TNT Ltd., called the partnership an "historic development" that would reduce the cost of carrying packages.
"This is the most appropriate place to celebrate this historic anniversary, because New York City was the first capital of the United States under the Constitution," Koch said.
The government and the opposition sat down at the same table to seek a common course for Poland's future, but Solidarity chairman Lech Walesa cautioned that deep distrust hangs over the historic talks.
"Mieno's historic role is to take the cap off of one of the most impressive speculative markets we've had anywhere in the world since the war," says Kenneth S. Courtis, senior economist at Deutsche Bank AG's capitalmarkets division in Tokyo.
Premier Turgut Ozal will become the first Turkish prime minister in 36 years to go to Greece when he flies there Monday on a historic visit to improve ties between the archrivals.
"He who does not want to make decisions for our people should not try to persuade them the best thing is a division of our fatherland," Kohl said in his first speech to Parliament on East Germany's historic border openings.
Zimmermann hailed the human rights provisions in the draft document as "historic," and indicated only minor changes were needed.
That's been the historic position of the United States.