Etymograph

English

statistics

Statistics comes from German Statistik, introduced by Achenwall (1749) from New Latin statisticum ‘of the state’ and Italian statista ‘statesman’.

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentStatistik1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1972statistics1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English statistics
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1972, Leonard J. Savage, The Foundations of Statistics: “As for statistics, the foundations include, on any interpretation…”.

Lineage

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentStatistikWiktionary, English statistics
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1972statisticsWiktionary, English statistics. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1972, Leonard J. Savage, The Foundations of Statistics: “As for statistics, the foundations include, on any interpretation…”

The story

Statistik introduced by Gottfried Achenwall (1749), originally designated the analysis of data about the state.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from German Statistik

Today it means

noun A discipline, principally within applied mathematics, concerned with the systematic study of the collection, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “statistics”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / German Statistik / statistics

Shirt and support for this word