Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

Definition of historical adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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historical

adjective
historical pronunciation English hɪˈstɒrɪkl historical pronunciation American hɪˈstɔːrɪkl historical pronunciation American hɪˈstɑːrɪkl
[usually before noun]
 
1 connected with the pastthe historical background to the warYou must place these events in their historical context.an essay on the historical development of the novelWomen are not allowed to enter the monastery for historical reasons.2 connected with the study of historyhistorical documents/records/researchThe building is of historical importance.3 (of a book, film/movie, etc.) about people and events in the pasta historical novel
Help
 Some speakers do not pronounce the ‘h’ at the beginning of historical and use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’ before it. This now sounds old-fashioned.historically
historically pronunciation English hɪˈstɒrɪkli historically pronunciation American hɪˈstɔːrɪkli
adverbThe book is historically inaccurate.Historically, there has always been a great deal of rivalry between the two families.