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parameter
8 dictionary results for: Parameter
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
pa·ram·e·ter 
[puh-ram-i-ter] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[puh-ram-i-ter] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | Mathematics.
|
| 2. | Statistics. a variable entering into the mathematical form of any distribution such that the possible values of the variable correspond to different distributions. |
| 3. | Computers. a variable that must be given a specific value during the execution of a program or of a procedure within a program. |
| 4. | Usually, parameters. limits or boundaries; guidelines: the basic parameters of our foreign policy. |
| 5. | characteristic or factor; aspect; element: a useful parameter for judging long-term success. |
—Related forms
—Usage note 4, 5. Some object strongly to the use of parameter in these newer senses. Nevertheless, the criticized uses are now well established both in educated speech and in edited writing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| pa·ram·e·ter
(pə-rām'ĭ-tər) Pronunciation Key
n.
[New Latin parametrum, a line through the focus and parallel to the directrix of a conic : Greek para-, beside; see para-1 + Greek metron, measure; see -meter.] par'a·met'ric (pār'ə-mět'rĭk), par'a·met'ri·cal adj., par'a·met'ri·cal·ly adv. Usage Note: The term parameter, which originates in mathematics, has a number of specific meanings in fields such as astronomy, electricity, crystallography, and statistics. Perhaps because of its ring of technical authority, it has been used more generally in recent years to refer to any factor that determines a range of variations and especially to a factor that restricts what can result from a process or policy. In this use it often comes close to meaning "a limit or boundary." Some of these new uses have a clear connection to the technical senses of the word. For example, the provisions of a zoning ordinance that limit the height or density of new construction can be reasonably likened to mathematical parameters that establish the limits of other variables. Therefore one can say The zoning commission announced new planning parameters for the historic Lamping district of the city. But other uses go one step further and treat parameter as a high-toned synonym for characteristic. Eighty percent of Panelists reject this use of parameter in the example The Judeo-Christian ethic is one of the important parameters of Western culture. · Some of the difficulties with the nontechnical use of parameter appear to arise from its resemblance to the word perimeter, with which it shares the sense "limit," though the precise meanings of the two words differ. This confusion probably explains the use of parameter in a sentence such as U.S. forces report that the parameters of the mine area in the Gulf are fairly well established, where the word perimeter would have expressed the intended sense more exactly. This example of a use of parameter was unacceptable to 61 percent of the Usage Panel. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
parameter
parameter
1656, from Mod.L. parameter (1631), from Gk. para- "beside, subsidiary" + metron "measure" (see meter (2)). A geometry term until 1920s when it yielded sense of "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system" (1927). Common modern meaning (infl. by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor" is from 1950s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| parameter | |
noun | |
| 1. | a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves |
| 2. | any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance |
| 3. | (computer science) a reference or value that is passed to a function, procedure, subroutine, command, or program [syn: argument] |
| 4. | a quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
parameter [(puh-ram-uh-tuhr)]
parameter [(puh-ram-uh-tuhr)]
A quantity or number on which some other quantity or number depends. An informal example is, “Depending on the traffic, it takes me between twenty minutes and an hour to drive to work”; here, “traffic” is the parameter that determines the time it takes to get to work. In statistics, a parameter is an unknown characteristic of a population — for example, the number of women in a particular precinct who will vote Democratic.
Note: The term is often mistakenly used to refer to the limits of possible values a variable can have because of confusion with the word perimeter.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
par'a·met'ric (pār'ə-mět'rĭk) or par'a·met'ri·cal adj.
par'a·met'ri·cal·ly adv.
parameter pa·ram·e·ter (pə-rām'ĭ-tər)
n.
- One of a set of measurable factors, such as temperature and pressure, that define a system and determine its behavior and are varied in an experiment.
- A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary.
- A statistical quantity, such as a mean or standard deviation of a total population, that is calculated from data and describes a characteristic of the population as opposed to a sample from the population.
- A psychoanalytic tactic, other than interpretation, used by the analyst to further the patient's progress.
- A factor that restricts what is possible or what results. Not in technical use.
- A distinguishing characteristic or feature. Not in technical use.
par'a·met'ric (pār'ə-mět'rĭk) or par'a·met'ri·cal adj.
par'a·met'ri·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Parameter
Pa*ram"e*ter\, n. [Pref. para- + -meter: cf. F. param[`e]tre.]1. (a) (Math.) A term applied to some characteristic magnitude whose value, invariable as long as one and the same function, curve, surface, etc., is considered, serves to distinguish that function, curve, surface, etc., from others of the same kind or family. --Brande & C. (b) Specifically (Conic Sections), in the ellipse and hyperbola, a third proportional to any diameter and its conjugate, or in the parabola, to any abscissa and the corresponding ordinate. Note: The parameter of the principal axis of a conic section is called the latus rectum. 2. (Crystallog.) The ratio of the three crystallographic axes which determines the position of any plane; also, the fundamental axial ratio for a given species.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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