Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- important; of consequence.
- having or expressing a meaning; indicative; suggestive: a significant wink.
- Statistics. of or relating to observations that are unlikely to occur by chance and that therefore indicate a systematic cause.
noun
- something significant; a sign.
adjective
- having or expressing a meaning; indicative
- having a covert or implied meaning; suggestive
- important, notable, or momentous
- statistics of or relating to a difference between a result derived from a hypothesis and its observed value that is too large to be attributed to chance and that therefore tends to refute the hypothesis
adj.1570s, “having a meaning,” from Latin significantem (nominative significans, present participle of significare “make known, indicate” (see signify). Earlier in the same sense was significative (c.1400). Often “having a special or secret meaning,” hence “important” (1761). Related: Significantly. Significant figure is from 1680s. Significant other (n.) attested by 1961, in psychology, “the most influential other person in the patient’s world.”