significance
[sig-nif-i-kuh ns]
- importance; consequence: the significance of the new treaty.
- meaning; import: The familiar place had a new significance for her.
- the quality of being significant or having a meaning: to give significance to dull chores.
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Origin of significance
1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin significantia force, meaning, equivalent to significant- (see significant) + -ia -ia; see -ance
Synonyms
See more synonyms for significance on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
1. triviality.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for significance
Contemporary Examples
Most people, however, understood the significance of the photo immediately-- especially those who share my skin.
The significance of the history of women in the early Church is not lost on Episcopalian.
Her experiences are recorded in a prison diary in which she has visions that have significance for the whole community.
The quote is apocryphal, but that has not changed its significance for Army football players.
He was a!ways ready to tell a story that seemed fraught with significance.
Historical Examples
Of the significance of the life of this great man, it would be superfluous to speak.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
It is doubtful if she would have realized its significance, had she seen it.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
And this illustration has significance for more than the physical order of revelation.
Understanding the ScripturesFrancis McConnell
Even then its significance was disregarded and its importance underrated.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
Peter knew he was experiencing a ceremony of some kind, the significance of which he must learn.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
significance
- consequence or importance
- something signified, expressed, or intended
- the state or quality of being significant
- statistics
- a measure of the confidence that can be placed in a result, esp a substantive causal hypothesis, as not being merely a matter of chance
- (as modifier)a significance level Compare confidence level See also hypothesis testing
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for significance
n.
c.1400, "meaning," from Old French significance or directly from Latin significantia "meaning, force, energy," from significans, present participle of significare "to mean, import, signify" (see signify). The earlier word was signifiance (mid-13c.). Meaning "importance" is from 1725. Related: Significancy.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper