"Important" and "significant" seems to be very close in meaning when denoting that something matters much.
But am I right in thinking that "important" is less formal word than "significant"? And what, if any, are other differences in usage between them?
Answer
My American Heritage Dictionary shows the etymology of "important" as "[< Lat. importare, be significant]". So it's safe to say that in general usage, some meanings overlap. In certain technical or scientific contexts, however, the meaning of "signifcant" is more narrowly "having a meaning [at all]" (e.g., significant digit), whereas "important" is not a word with a precise meaning in such contexts.
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