significance

[sig-nif-i-kuhns]

noun

1. importance; consequence.

   the significance of the new treaty.

   Synonyms: weight, moment
   Antonyms: triviality

2. meaning; import.

   The familiar place had a new significance for her.

3. the quality of being significant or having a meaning.

   to give significance to dull chores.

significance

/ sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəns /

noun

1. consequence or importance

2. something signified, expressed, or intended

3. the state or quality of being significant

4. statistics

   1. 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

   2. ( as modifier ) Compare confidence level See also hypothesis testing

      a significance level

Other Word Forms

• nonsignificance noun
• self-significance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of significance¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (from Middle French ), from Latin significantia “force, meaning,” equivalent to significant- ( significant ) + -ia -ia; ( -ance )

Synonym Study

See importance. See meaning.

Example Sentences

It was, however, another message delivered by the German manager that will carry wider significance as England gather momentum towards next summer's World Cup.

Read more on BBC

The last is a picture of a baby reaching for a carton of milk, the others are of local public events or snapshots of personal significance.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

She finds cosmic significance in the creature’s efficiently programmed movements, and pathos when she returns the next day and both it and the web are gone.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Sinosure, formally China Export & Credit Insurance, is a financial tool of China’s central government that supports Beijing’s international development priorities—a mandate with particular significance in a politically sensitive location such as Iran.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Jobs growth also looks to be slowing further, according to numbers from Bank of America and Carlyle—such private data have more significance in the absence of official figures delayed by the ongoing government shutdown.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• consequence 
• gravity 
• influence 
• magnitude 
• matter 
• merit 
• prestige 
• relevance 
• virtue 
• weight