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

[Ultimately from New Latin statisticus, of statecraft. See statistics.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.