Definition of "statistic" []

• A numerical datum. (noun)
• A numerical value, such as standard deviation or mean, that characterizes the sample or population from which it was derived. (noun)
• One viewed as a nameless item of statistical information: got laid off and became another statistic in the slumping economy. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Among medical doctors, the statistic is almost 75%."
• "JP: not to diminish your point but the statistic is actually “2/3 of corporations paid no income taxes for at least one year between 1996 and 2005.”"
• "That weaselly separation of the source from the statistic is the kind of things students do when they are are making stuff up, or at least playing fast-and-loose with the figures."