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That's the second definition in Webster's 1913 edition. The first is: > Fitted or designed to signify or make known something; having a meaning; standing as a
by chc 11y ago
That's the second definition in Webster's 1913 edition. The first is:
> Fitted or designed to signify or make known something; having a meaning; standing as a sign or token; expressive or suggestive; as, a significant word or sound; a significant look.
It seems to me that this is the sense in which statisticians talk about significance. It means that the results actually signify something rather than just being meaningless noise.
- amluto 11y agoInteresting. That definition seems like a bit of a stretch in this context to me. Results of trials aren't "fitted or designed" to signify -- they are or are not significant by the p-value standard, and whether they are or are not is random (which is the whole point). In any event, I suspect that, among most currently living English speakers, the second definition is what comes to mind.