different between unmistakable vs significant

English

Alternative forms

• unmistakeable

Etymology

un- +? mistake +? -able

Pronunciation

Adjective

unmistakable (comparative more unmistakable, superlative most unmistakable)

1. Unique, such that it cannot be mistaken for something else.

   Antonym: mistakable

   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

     Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.

Translations

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?