significant

English

Etymology

From Latin significans, present participle of significare, from signum (“sign”) + ficare (“do, make”), variant of facere.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sɪɡˈnɪf.ɪ.kənt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /sɪɡˈnɪf.ə.kənt/, /sɪɡˈnɪf.ə.ɡənt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Adjective

significant (comparative more significant, superlative most significant)

1. Signifying something; carrying meaning.

   Synonym: meaningful

   a significant word or sound

   a significant look

   • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

     It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient.

   • 1856, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, chapter III, in The Wreck of the Golden Mary, part two, page 99:

     As evening came on, it grew prematurely dark and cloudy; while the waves acquired that dull indigo tint so significant of ugly weather.

2. Having a noticeable or major effect.

   Synonyms: notable, pregnant

   That was a significant step in the right direction.

   The First World War was a significant event.

   • 2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College‎, volume 91, number 361, Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, page 393:

     The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶

3. Reasonably large in number or amount.
4. Having a covert or hidden meaning.
5. (statistics) Having a low probability of occurring by chance (for example, having high correlation and thus likely to be related).
6. (mathematics) Of a digit or figure, see significant figure.

Synonyms

Sense 1 (meaningful):

• important

Antonyms

• insignificant
• ignorable
• negligible
• slight

Derived terms

• least significant bit
• least significant byte
• most significant bit
• most significant byte
• nonsignificant
• significant digit
• significant figure
• significant other
• significant wave height
• statistically significant

Related terms

• significance
• significand
• signify

Translations

signifying something; carrying meaning

Bulgarian: изрази́телен (bg) (izrazítelen) Esperanto: signifa Finnish: merkitsevä (fi) Greek: Ancient: σημαντικός (sēmantikós) Hungarian: jelentős (hu) Icelandic: marktækur Italian: significativo (it), eloquente (it) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: watedar (ku) Latin: significans Latvian: nozīmīgs Maori: tāpua Plautdietsch: wichtich Romanian: semnificativ (ro) Russian: зна́чимый (ru) (znáčimyj) Sanskrit: आर्थिक (sa) (ārthika) Spanish: significativo (es) Tagalog: makahulugan

having a covert or hidden meaning

Finnish: merkitsevä (fi)

having noticeable effect

Arabic: هَامّ (hāmm) Armenian: էական (hy) (ēakan) Belarusian: зна́чны (znáčny), ва́жны (be) (vážny) Bulgarian: съще́ствен (bg) (sǎštéstven), значи́телен (bg) (značítelen) Catalan: significatiu (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 重要 (zh) (zhòngyào), 有意義 / 有意义 (yǒu yìyì) Czech: významný (cs), důležitý (cs) Danish: signifikant Dutch: voelbaar (nl), waarneembaar (nl), beduidend (nl), significant (nl), veelbetekenend (nl), betekenisvol (nl) Finnish: merkittävä (fi), merkityksellinen (fi) French: significatif (fr) Galician: significativo (gl) m Georgian: მნიშვნელოვანი (mnišvnelovani) German: signifikant (de), bedeutend (de) Hebrew: משמעותי (mashma'uti), ממשי (mamashi) Hungarian: jelentős (hu) Interlingua: significante Italian: significativo (it), epocale (it), rimarchevole (it), notevole (it) Japanese: 重要な (ja) (じゅうような, jūyō na), 著しい (ja) (いちじるしい, ichijirushii) Korean: 중요(重要)하다 (ko) (jung'yohada), 상당(相當)하다 (ko) (sangdanghada) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: giring (ku) Latin: ponderōsus, significāns Latvian: redzams, ievērojams Macedonian: значаен (značaen) Maori: tāpua Old English: please add this translation if you can Persian: please add this translation if you can Polish: znaczny (pl), znaczący (pl) Portuguese: significativo (pt) Romanian: semnificant (ro), important (ro), semnificativ (ro) Russian: значи́тельный (ru) (značítelʹnyj), суще́ственный (ru) (suščéstvennyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: зна̏ча̄јан Roman: znȁčājan (sh) Slovak: významný, dôležitý (sk), značný, signifikantný (sk) Slovene: pomemben Spanish: importante (es), significativo (es), significante (es), considerable (es) Swedish: signifikant (sv), betydelsefullt (sv), betydande (sv) Turkish: önemli (tr), anlamlı (tr), manalı (tr), kayda değer (tr) Ukrainian: значни́й (značnýj), істо́тний (istótnyj), суттє́вий (suttjévyj) Vietnamese: quan trọng (vi)

reasonably large

Bulgarian: значи́телен (bg) (značítelen) Finnish: merkittävä (fi) Italian: elevato (it), alto (it) Russian: значи́тельный (ru) (značítelʹnyj)

statistics: having a low probability of occurring by chance

Bulgarian: значи́м (bg) (značím) Finnish: merkitsevä (fi) French: significatif (fr) Hungarian: szignifikáns (hu) Italian: significativo (it) Russian: зна́чимый (ru) (znáčimyj) Spanish: significativo (es) Swedish: signifikant (sv)

Noun

significant (plural significants)

1. That which has significance; a sign; a token; a symbol.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

     In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts.

   • a. 1850, William Wordsworth, The Egyptian Maid:

     And in my glass significants there are

References

• “significant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

significant

1. gerund of significar

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin significāns.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

significant (comparative significanter, superlative significantst)

1. significant

   Synonym: beduidend

   Antonyms: insignificant, onbeduidend

Declension

Declension of significant
uninflected	significant
inflected	significante
comparative	significanter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		significant	significanter	het significantst het significantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	significante	significantere	significantste
	n. sing.	significant	significanter	significantste
	plural	significante	significantere	significantste
definite		significante	significantere	significantste
partitive		significants	significanters	—

Derived terms

• insignificant
• significantie

Latin

Verb

significant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of significō