Q.The word 'statistics' is derived from words meaning:

This objective question tests the origin of the word 'statistics' from §2.

The word traces to the Latin status and German statistik, all connected with the idea of the State.

The word statistics derives from the Latin status, the Italian statista and the German statistik, all connected with the idea of the State. In its earliest form statistics was literally the 'science of the State', because rulers collected data on population, land, wealth and military strength for taxation and defence.

Therefore the correct option is (b) the State.

• (a) 'Science' is wrong — statistics became a science, but the word is not derived from a word for 'science'.
• (c) 'Number' is wrong — statistics deals with numbers, but its name comes from status (State), not from a word for 'number'.
• (d) 'Survey' is wrong — a survey is a method used in statistics, not the origin of the word.

Students sometimes pick (c) 'number' because statistics deals with numbers — but the question asks about the origin of the word, which is the State (status), not the subject matter.