significativa

Significativa is the feminine singular form of the adjective meaning significant, meaningful, or important in Spanish and Portuguese. It derives from the Latin significativus, which comes from significare, “to signify or indicate.” As a gendered form, significativa is used to describe feminine nouns in contexts ranging from everyday language to specialized terms in science.

In general use, significativa conveys prominence or importance. In Spanish, one might speak of una acción significativa (a meaningful action) or una diferencia significativa (a statistically meaningful or important difference in some contexts). In Portuguese, examples include uma diferença significativa or uma evidência significativa, with the word agreeing in gender with feminine nouns such as diferença or evidência. The term commonly appears in discussions of culture, history, education, and social analysis to indicate notable or meaningful aspects.

In statistics and research, significant or significativa is used to describe results that cross a threshold for statistical significance. Although the masculine form is more frequent for the word “resultado significativo” or “diferença significativa” when the noun is masculine (resultado) or feminine (diferença) respectively, significativa remains the correct feminine adjective form to describe feminine nouns. The concept is often linked to significance levels and p-values (e.g., p < 0.05) and to the broader idea of evidence against a null hypothesis.

Related terms include significancia/significância in Portuguese and significación in Spanish, which function as the corresponding noun forms. The word also relates to linguistic discussions of meaning and to statistical reporting standards across Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking communities.