historic
Definition
Variationhistorical
adjective
"...the Federal Reserve Board has eased interest rates in the past year, but they are still at historically high levels" [Sunday Times]
"...the historic p/e for the FTSE all-share index is 28.3 and the dividend yield is barely 2 per cent. Both indicators suggest that the stock markets are very highly priced" [Times]
COMMENTBy tradition, a company's accounts are usually prepared on the historic(al) cost principle, i.e. that assets are costed at their purchase price. With inflation, such assets are undervalued, and current-cost accounting or replacement-cost accounting may be preferred.
