Etymologically
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significance

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɪɡˈnɪf.ɪ.kəns/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English significaunce, borrowed from Old French significance or directly borrowed from Latin significantia (“meaning, force, energy”),[2][3][4] from significans, the present participle of significāre (“to mean, signify”) (see signify).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Meaning, as of an omen or dream: about 1400 in Etymonline, about 1450 in the OED.[2][6] NODE says it first denoted an unstated meaning.[4]

Semantic evolution

Importance or consequence is from 1725.[2][6] Meaning or suggestiveness without a stated object is from 1814.[6] In statistics, the degree to which a result is statistically significant is from 1888.[6] The earlier word was signifiance, sign or portent (mid-13th century), and significancy was the more common form in the 17th and 18th centuries.[2]

Timeline

  • mid-13th century – signifiance.[2]
  • c. 1400 – meaning.[2]
  • 1725 – importance.[2][6]
  • 1888 – in statistics.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of being important; importance.
  2. The meaning of something, especially a hidden one.
  3. (statistics) The extent to which a result is unlikely to be due to chance.

Word family

  • insignificance
  • nonsignificance
  • significs

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press