significative
Americanadjective
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(of a sign, mark, etc) symbolic
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another word for significant
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of significative
1350–1400; Middle English (< Old French significatif, significative ) < Late Latin significātīvus denoting, equivalent to Latin significāt ( us ) (past participle of significāre to make a sign; see signify, -ate 1) + -īvus -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But in course of time these words have lost their force—their meaning has been forgotten—and they have come to be mere proper names, designative but not significative.
From History of Phoenicia by George Rawlinson
As long as in these sesquipedalian compounds, the significative root remains distinct, they belong to the agglutinative stage; as soon as it is absorbed by the terminations, they belong to the inflectional stage.
From Lectures on The Science of Language by Max Müller
Three of them could henceforth be considered only as significative of the forms in which all matter exists.
From Familiar Letters on Chemistry by Justus, Freiherr von Liebig
According to the Maya, their name is significative of these facts, since Kat or Katah is a verb that means to place impediments on the road, to come forth and obstruct the passage.
From Vestiges of the Mayas or, Facts Tending to Prove that Communications and Intimate Relations Must Have Existed, in very Remote Times, Between the Inhabitants of Mayab and Those of Asia and Africa by Augustus Le Plongeon
Insignif′icātive, not significative or expressing by external signs.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
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