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.

   Synonym: notable

   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^[1], 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 (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 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

Verb

significant

1. gerund of significar

Latin

Verb

significant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of significō