Statistics is the branch of maths that makes sense of collected data. Averages, spread, and how much you can trust a result.
The word is singular when it means the subject, so statistics is difficult, and plural when it means the numbers themselves, so the statistics are alarming. That grammatical split catches people out. It gives us a famous warning about lies, damned lies and statistics, and the whole modern apparatus of polling, medical trials and quality control rests on it. A single number is a statistic.
1nounstatisticsThe branch of mathematics dealing with the collection and interpretation of data.
“Statistics is compulsory in the first year.”
2nounnumericalThe numerical facts themselves.
“The statistics on waiting times are getting worse.”
Italian
statista — statesman, politician
New Latin
statisticum — of the state
German
Statistik
English, today
statistics
From German Statistik, from New Latin statisticum (“of the state”) and Italian statista (“statesman, politician”), compare English statist. Statistik introduced by Gottfried Achenwall (1749), originally designated the analysis of data about the state.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove, School Subjects
First appears in chapter 15 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word