Statistic

How to spell statistic

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce statistic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does statistic mean?

1. nounA single numerical fact or item of data, especially one drawn from a larger collection of figures.

Statistic in a sentence

• The report quoted one alarming statistic about household debt.

• Every statistic in the survey was checked against the original records.

Where does statistic come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin status, meaning 'state' or 'condition', the same root that gives us 'state' and 'statute'. In the eighteenth century the German scholar Gottfried Achenwall popularised the term Statistik to mean the systematic study of the state, that is, the collection of facts and figures about a country's population, trade, and resources. English borrowed the idea in the 1770s, first as 'statistics' for that science, and only later did the singular 'statistic' come to mean a single numerical fact drawn from such data. The shift from 'facts about the state' to 'any piece of numerical data' happened gradually through the nineteenth century. The spelling keeps the doubled t-pattern of the Latin status and the German source, which is why the unstressed middle syllable can trip writers who hear 'stuh-tis-tik' and lose track of the letters.

How the word is built

• statist- (from German Statistik, the study of the state and its data, ultimately Latin status: state, condition)
• -ic (forming a noun or adjective)