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significant

Etymology and origin of the English word significant

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1566
Borrowed from
Latin significans
Ultimate origin
Latin (significāre)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɪɡˈnɪf.ɪ.kənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin significāns (“indicating, meaning”) (stem significant-), the present participle of significāre (“to make known, indicate, signify”).[2][3][4] Barnhart treats it as formed in English as the adjective to significance, on the Latin model.[5] It is related to signify and sign.[5][3] Earlier English had significative, and significate “indicated”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Having or conveying a meaning”: 1566 according to Merriam-Webster,[4] 1579 according to Barnhart and the OED,[5][6] or the 1570s.[2]

Semantic evolution

“Serving as a sign or indication” is from the 1590s.[2] Things that conveyed a special or secret meaning led to the sense “important, weighty, notable”, before 1761.[2][5][6] The significant figure of science is from the 1680s (1690).[2][6] In statistics a result is significant when it is too closely correlated to be put down to chance.[7] Significant form, in aesthetics, is from 1914.[6] Significant other is attested by 1961, in psychology.[2] Significance, the meaning of something, is from before 1400.[5]

Timeline

  • before 1400 – significance.[5]
  • 1566 – meaningful.[4]
  • 1590s – serving as a sign.[2]
  • 1690 – significant figures.[6]
  • before 1761 – important.[5][6]
  • 1914 – significant form.[6]
  • 1961 – significant other.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Important or large enough to have an effect: a significant change.
  2. Fairly large in amount: a significant sum.
  3. Having a meaning, especially a hidden one; meaningful: a significant look.
  4. (statistics) Too closely related to be the result of chance.

Word family

  • significantly
  • unsignificant
  • nonsignificant
  • significant digit
  • significant other
  • significance
  • signify
  • sign
  • signal
  • insignificant

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Significant.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/significant. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·