Archaic vs Historical in dictionaries

Question

At Oxford Dictionaries Online the word alderman is marked as "chiefly historical", whereas ere is marked as "literary or archaic".

I've looked around on the ODO site, but I can't find a guide to explain the difference. To me they both mean "old and not really used any more".

How does archaic differ from historical in word definitions?

Answer 1

An archaic word is one that is no longer in everyday use but sometimes used to impart an old-fashioned flavour, while a historical word is one used to describe a thing of the past. On the other hand, a literary word is one that is connected to literature. As can be seen, these three mean slightly different things.

Answer 2

I've had an email from the Oxford University Press, and this is what they say:

Archaic: very old-fashioned language, not in ordinary use at all today, but sometimes used to give a deliberately old-fashioned effect or found in works of the past that are still widely read.

Historical: still used today, but only to refer to some practice or artefact that is no longer part of the modern world, i.e. baldric or almoner.

Answer 3

Here are the OED definitions of those two words –

archaic, adj.

a. Marked by the characteristics of an earlier period; old-fashioned, primitive, antiquated. spec. in Archaeol., designating an early or formative period of artistic style or culture.

b. esp. of language: Belonging to an earlier period, no longer in common use, though still retained either by individuals, or generally, for special purposes, poetical, liturgical, etc. Thus the pronunciation obleege is archaic in the first case; the pronoun thou in the second.

historical, adj. and n.

1 A (a) Belonging to, constituting, or of the nature of history; in accordance with history.

1 A (b) spec. Belonging to or of the nature of history as opposed to fiction or legend.