historical
part of speech
adjective (historical, more historical)
meaning for a pupil
1) Historical means to do with history or the past: «historical events», «historical facts». tree →
2) Historical describes a person or event that really existed in the past, not only in a legend. tree →
3) Historical describes a story, film or novel set in the past: «a historical novel». tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons, pupils study historical sources (old letters, pictures, objects) to find out what happened, and ask whether a person in a legend is historical (really lived). In reading, «historical fiction» mixes real history with made-up characters. Phrases: «historical source», «historical fiction», «historical figure», «historical site».
examples
- We read a historical novel about the Romans. tree →
- Is King Arthur a historical person or a legend? tree →
- Old diaries are useful historical sources. tree →
- The castle is an important historical site. tree →
- She dressed as a historical figure for the school day. tree →
- Historical records show the town flooded many times. tree →
- So close is the resemblance, indeed, that it is impossible not to surmise an historical relation between the two. tree →
note
Both «a historical» and «an historical» are used; «a historical» is more common today. Do not confuse with «historic», which means very important in history: «a historic day» (one people will remember), «a historical day» (just a day in the past).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «historical» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.