Where does “significance” come from?
Significance derives from Old French significance, from Latin significantia, meaning the quality of being significant or having meaning.
significance (English): The extent to which something matters;...
Definitions
- The extent to which something matters;...
Ancestry of “significance”, step by step
significance traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French signification
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | signification | meaning; definition; signification |
| 2 | Latin | significatio | signal, sign, mark, token; applause; meaning,... |
| 3 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 4 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 5 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 6 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 8 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 9 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via Middle English significaunce
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | significaunce | The meaning or significance of an omen |
| 2 | Middle French | significance | — |
| 3 | Old French | significance | — |
| 4 | Latin | significantia | nominative neuter plural of significāns;... |
| 5 | Latin | significans | showing, expressing, signifying, pointing out;... |
| 6 | Latin | significāre | — |
| 7 | Latin | signum | visible indication: sign, mark, signal; seal,... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | seknom | sign |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |