correlation

American  

[kawr-uh-ley-shuhn, kor-] / ˌkɔr əˈleɪ ʃən, ˌkɒr- /

especially British, corelation

noun

1. mutual relation of two or more things, parts, etc..

   Studies find a positive correlation between severity of illness and nutritional status of the patients.

   Synonyms:

   interconnection, interrelationship, interdependence, equivalence, parallelism, correspondence, similarity

2. the act of correlating or state of being correlated.

3. Statistics. the degree to which two or more attributes or measurements on the same group of elements show a tendency to vary together.

4. Physiology. the interdependence or reciprocal relations of organs or functions.

5. Geology. the demonstrable equivalence, in age or lithology, of two or more stratigraphic units, as formations or members of such.

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correlation British  

/ ˌkɒrɪˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. a mutual or reciprocal relationship between two or more things

2. the act or process of correlating or the state of being correlated

3. statistics the extent of correspondence between the ordering of two variables. Correlation is positive or direct when two variables move in the same direction and negative or inverse when they move in opposite directions

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Pop Culture

—Pearson correlation coefficient: a value between -1 and +1 that represents the relationship between two variables.

Other Word Forms

• correlational adjective
• intercorrelation noun
• miscorrelation noun
• noncorrelation noun

Etymology

Origin of correlation

First recorded in 1555–65; from Medieval Latin: correlātiōn- (stem of correlātiō ); cor-, relation

Example Sentences

But history suggests that this correlation exists only when focusing on long periods — measured over many decades, if not centuries.

From MarketWatch

It has 0% invested in technology and communication services, a low average P/E ratio of 12, strong returns, and little correlation with the S&P 500.

From Barron's

Beyond market conditions, they are keeping a close eye on how AI is performing in automating routine security processes, while strategically deploying AI to handle repetitive tasks like threat detection and alert correlation, Reck said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Researchers point to improved resolution techniques -- such as the recent development of the holographic quantum microscope, which allows obtaining images of delicate biological samples -- along with extremely sensitive sensors that rely on quantum correlations.

From Science Daily

Previous studies have found correlations between conditions such as autism and differences in gut microbiome composition.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• interaction
• interrelationship
• parallel