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conditional probability

American  

noun

  1. Statistics, Mathematics. the probability that an event will occur under the condition that another event occurs first: equal to the probability that both will occur divided by the probability that the first will occur.


conditional probability British  

noun

  1. statistics the probability of one event, A, occurring given that another, B, is already known to have occurred: written P ( A|B ) and equal to P ( A and B )| P ( B )

"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

Etymology

Origin of conditional probability

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

This is a conditional probability, so consider only probabilities in the row labeled "Caught."

From Textbooks Mar. 27, 2020

The probability of picking the three of diamonds is called a conditional probability because it is conditioned on what was picked first.

From Textbooks Nov. 29, 2017

In order to solve Example 3.30 we had to draw upon the concept of conditional probability from the previous section.

From Textbooks Nov. 29, 2017

The reader analyzed the problem using conditional probability, which enables you to answer questions of the type "what are the odds of event A happening given that event B has happened?"

From Scientific American Apr. 15, 2011

Before I get to a serious application, I’d like to mention another con game which works because of confusion about conditional probability.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

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