different between significant vs illustrious

English

Etymology

From Latin significans, present participle of significare, from signum (“sign”) + ficare (“do, make”), variant of facere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s???n?.f?.k?nt/

• (US, also) IPA^(key): /s???n?.f?.??nt/

Adjective

significant (comparative more significant, superlative most significant)

1. Signifying something; carrying meaning.

   Synonym: meaningful

   • It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient.
2. Having a covert or hidden meaning.
3. Having a noticeable or major effect.

   Synonym: notable
4. Reasonably large in number or amount.
5. (statistics) Having a low probability of occurring by chance (for example, having high correlation and thus likely to be related).

Usage notes

• This word may be ambiguous in some situations. In formal writing, care should be taken with comments such as "the difference is significant," because it is not clear without contextual clues whether significant modifies the fact that there is a difference ("notable"), or the difference itself ("large in number or amount"). In some such situations, large and other synonyms may be used in its place.

Synonyms

• important

Antonyms

• insignificant
• ignorable
• negligible
• slight

Related terms

• significance
• significand
• significant other
• signify

Translations

Noun

significant (plural significants)

1. That which has significance; a sign; a token; a symbol.
   • a. 1850, William Wordsworth, The Egyptian Maid

     And in my glass significants there are

References

significant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Catalan

Verb

significant

1. present participle of significar

Latin

Verb

significant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of signific?

English

Etymology

From Latin ill?stris (“bright, shining; distinguished, prominent, illustrious”) +? -ous (“suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree”). Ill?stris is derived from ill?str? (“to brighten, illuminate; to make famous or illustrious”), from in- (“prefix meaning ‘in, inside’”) + lustr? (“to purify by making a sacrifice; to brighten, illuminate”) (from lustr? (“purificatory sacrifice”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”) or *lewh?- (“to wash”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??l?s.t??.?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??l?s.t?i.?s/, /-?l?s-/
• Hyphenation: il?lus?tri?ous

Adjective

illustrious (comparative more illustrious, superlative most illustrious)

1. Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known, especially due to past achievements or noble qualities. [from mid 16th c.]

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• lustrious

Translations

Further reading

• illustrious (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia