statistique

Forms

statistique f (plural statistiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Statistik,^[2][3][1][4] which the economist G. Achenwall (1719–1772) formed from Italian statista (“statesman”): for him statistics was the body of knowledge a statesman needs.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg date the German word to 1749 and trace it to a Latin coinage of Schmeitzel, a professor at Jena, which Achenwall brought into German; they take it as a modern derivative of Latin status (“state”) with a rare ending, perhaps modelled on phlogisticum.^[3]

Rey and the Robert dictionaries give instead New Latin statisticus (“relating to the state”) (17th century).^[5][6][7] Rey says it was formed from statistica (1633), a derivative of the word for statesman, itself from stato and so from the Latin word; for him the German word, recorded in 1752, has the same origin as the French.^[5] Bloch and Wartburg also note the Italian word, meaning “science of the State”, from 1633.^[3] The Italian word for statesman had already been borrowed into French as statiste about 1660.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bachaumont's Mémoires secrets use it about 1785 for the methodical study of social facts by numerical methods.^[2][7] Bloch and Wartburg, following the FEW, date the word to 1771.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

At first it meant the study of the facts that describe a State by counting: censuses, inventories and enumerations, meant to inform governments.^[5][7] It became an adjective in 1792.^[2][5] The move to the modern sense took place first in England, with Sir J. Sinclair's statistics (1798).^[5]

From 1830 it meant a set of figures on one class of facts,^[2] and in 1843, in Cournot, the mathematical techniques used to interpret phenomena whose factors are too many or too complex to study one by one.^[2][5] The adjective came to describe what concerns large numbers and complex phenomena, especially in physics.^[5] In 1968 variable statistique or statistique was used for a random variable computed from a sample.^[5][8] School slang shortened it to stat.^[5]

Timeline

• 1633 – Italian statistica is used for the science of the State.^[3][5]
• 1749 – German Statistik is recorded.^[3][6]
• 1771 – First French record according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[3]
• c. 1785 – Bachaumont's Mémoires secrets use it for the numerical study of social facts.^[2]
• 1792 – First used as an adjective.^[2]
• 1805 – Statisticien is recorded.^[5]
• 1828 – The adverb statistiquement appears.^[2][5]
• 1830 – It means a set of numerical data.^[2]
• 1843 – Cournot uses it for the mathematical techniques of interpretation.^[2]
• 1968 – Variable statistique is recorded.^[8][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) The methodical study of economic and social facts by numerical methods, such as censuses and inventories.^[7][2]
2. Statistics, the branch of applied mathematics that uses probability to draw conclusions from data.^[7][4][2]
3. A set of numerical data on a class of facts, often in the plural: les statistiques du chômage.^[4][2][8]
4. (mathematics) A statistic, a random variable computed from a sample.^[4][5]

Adjective

1. Statistical, relating to statistics: une méthode statistique, mécanique statistique.^[4][1][2]

Word family

• biostatistique
• géostatistique
• statisticien
• statistiquement

Related words

• état
• statiste
• Latin status
• German Statistik

Usage notes

Balzac's joking verb statistiquer (1830) did not catch on.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse