Historic vs. Historical: What’s the Difference (And Which Should I Use)?
#bigquestions #history #language
When it comes to choosing whether to end an adjective with -ic or -ical, there aren’t really any overarching rules to help you. With some words, both suffixes are correct and can be used interchangeably, though one might be more common than the other—like metaphorical over metaphoric. One could even be so obsolete that it seems wrong: Scientifical, for example, is a real word, but people almost invariably opt for scientific these days.
Knowing When to Use Historic vs. Historical
In other cases, -ic and -ical are both correct, but the words they create have separate meanings. Historic vs. historical is a special situation, because it technically falls into both of the aforementioned categories. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the two terms both mean “relating to history; concerned with past events.” They also both mean “having or likely to have great historical importance or fame.” In short, anything you describe as “historic” can be described as “historical,” too.