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mean deviation

American  

noun

Statistics.

  1. a measure of dispersion, computed by taking the arithmetic mean of the absolute values of the deviations of the functional values from some central value, usually the mean or median.

mean deviation British  

noun

  1. the difference between an observed value of a variable and its mean

  2. Also: mean deviation from the mean.   mean deviation from the median.   average deviation.  a measure of dispersion derived by computing the mean of the absolute values of the differences between observed values of a variable and the variable's mean

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mean deviation Scientific  

  1. In a statistical distribution, the average of the absolute values of the differences between individual numbers and their mean.

Etymology

Origin of mean deviation

First recorded in 1890–95

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.