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sample

 - 6 dictionary results

sam⋅ple

  [sam-puhl, sahm-] noun, adjective, verb, -pled, -pling.
Use sample in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small part of anything or one of a number, intended to show the quality, style, or nature of the whole; specimen.
2. Statistics. a subset of a population: to study a sample of the total population.
3. a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.
–adjective
4. serving as a specimen: a sample piece of cloth.
–verb (used with object)
5. to take a sample or samples of; test or judge by a sample.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < OF essample. See example

Synonyms:
1. See example.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sample
sam·ple   (sām'pəl)   
n.  

    1. A portion, piece, or segment that is representative of a whole.

    2. An entity that is representative of a class; a specimen. See Synonyms at example.

  2. Statistics A set of elements drawn from and analyzed to estimate the characteristics of a population. Also called sampling.

  3. A usually digitized audio segment taken from an original recording and inserted, often repetitively, in a new recording.

tr.v.   sam·pled, sam·pling, sam·ples

  1. To take a sample of, especially to test or examine by a sample: the restaurant critic who must sample a little of everything.

  2. To use or incorporate (an audio segment of an original recording) in a new recording: a song that samples the bass line of a 1970s disco tune.

adj.  Serving as a representative or example: sample test questions; a sample piece of fabric.

[Partly Middle English (from Anglo-Norman) and partly short for Middle English ensample (from Anglo-Norman), both from Latin exemplum; see example.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

sample

In statistics, a group drawn from a larger population and used to estimate the characteristics of the whole population.

Note: Opinion polls use small groups of people, often selected at random, as a sample of the opinions of the general public.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sample 
c.1300, "something which confirms a proposition or statement," from Anglo-Fr. saumple, aphetic of O.Fr. essample, from L. exemplum "a sample" (see example). Meaning "small quantity (of something) from which the general quality (of the whole) may be inferred" (usually in a commercial sense) is recorded from 1428; sense of "specimen for scientific sampling" is from 1878. The verb meaning "to test by taking a sample" is from 1767.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: sam·ple
Pronunciation: 'sam-p&l
Function: noun
1 : a representative part or a single item from a larger whole or groupespecially when presented for inspection or shown as evidence of quality : SPECIMEN sample>
2 : a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

sample digital signal processing
The result of measuring the amplitude of an analog signal at a specified time. In digital signal processing a sample is a signed or unsigned number and the number of samples per second is called the sample rate.
(2001-06-06)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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