adj. 1 famous or important in history or potentially so (a historic moment). 2 Gram. (of a tense) normally used in the narration of past events (esp. Latin & Greek imperfect and pluperfect; (cf. PRIMARY)). 3 archaic or disp. = HISTORICAL. historic infinitive the infinitive when used instead of the indicative. historic present the present tense used instead of the past in vivid narration.
[ L historicus f. Gk historikos (as HISTORY) ]