"statistic" definition, meaning, and origin

Adjective

Back-formation from statistics.

A single item in a statistical study.
A quantity calculated from the data in a sample, which characterises an important aspect in the sample (such as mean or standard deviation).
A person, or personal event, reduced to being an item of statistical information.
- By dying from an overdose, he became just another statistic.

To analyze or describe using statistics.
- This is the only subject in the world which has not been statisticked, which is another proof of scientific neglect by the investigators. - 1912 April 13, W. Kee Maxwell, “A Cold in the Head”, in The Judge, volume 62,,...
- When you get us all neatly docketed and statisticked, where will you put me? - 1926, Earning a Living by the Pen, page 81:
- Statisticked, are thirty other estates, ranging from that of a Mr. Morrison who has only one house, one garage, 65 stables, 2 kennels, 480 cattle, and 1250 acres, to the little hideaway of William Woodward which boasts...
To cite or calculate statistics.
- When a fellow quits statisticking for a while, they say, "Oh, haven't you one more statistic?” - 1925, National Safety Council, Proceedings of the National Safety Council Annual Safety Congress, page 136:
- I ran into what to me is the most horrible statistic I have ever run into in some thirty-five years of statisticking. - 1966, The Negro American - Volume 2, page 299:
- A lot of books about the Rape of the Land have shouted or wheedled or statisticked at us. - 1953, New York Herald Tribune Book Review - Volume 30, Part 1, page 6:
To comprise (as statistics)
- The afternoon game was pitched by Walter Johnson and was the start of the sixteen-game winning streak which statisticked that one in Boston, four in St. Louis, four in Chicago, four in Detroit, three in Cleveland and...