central tendency

nounStatistics.

the tendency of samples of a given measurement to cluster around some central value.

Origin of central tendency

First recorded in 1925–30

Compare measure of central tendency.

Words Nearby central tendency

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use central tendency in a sentence

A study of this frequency surface shows a tendency for people to be grouped about the central tendency or average.
The Science of Human Nature | William Henry Pyle
An ultra, one-sided idealism is the central tendency of the Hindoo mind.
Ten Great Religions | James Freeman Clarke
Figure 61 shows that these adults varied from no problems solved correctly to eighteen, around eight as a central tendency.
The Psychology of Arithmetic | Edward L. Thorndike

British Dictionary definitions for central tendency

central tendency

noun

statistics the tendency of the values of a random variable to cluster around the mean, median, and mode

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

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