Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

deviation

American  
[dee-vee-ey-shuhn] / ˌdi viˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. the act of deviating.

  2. departure from a standard or norm.

  3. Statistics. the difference between one of a set of values and some fixed value, usually the mean of the set.

  4. Navigation. the error of a magnetic compass, as that of a ship, on a given heading as a result of local magnetism.

  5. Optics.

    1. Also called deflection.  the bending of rays of light away from a straight line.

    2. angle of deviation.

  6. departure or divergence from an established dogma or ideology, especially a Communist one.

deviation British  
/ ˌdiːvɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

  1. an act or result of deviating

  2. statistics the difference between an observed value in a series of such values and their arithmetic mean

  3. the error of a compass due to local magnetic disturbances

"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
deviation Scientific  
/ dē′vē-ā′shən /

  1. The difference between one number in a set and the mean of the set.

Other Word Forms

  • deviative adjective
  • deviatory adjective
  • nondeviation noun

Etymology

Origin of deviation

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin dēviātiōn-, stem of dēviātiō; equivalent to deviate + -ion

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.

The analysis considered both symmetric beam misalignment and asymmetric conditions, where horizontal and vertical deviations differ.

From Science Daily

“Pekingology,” as this Chinese analog of Kremlinology is known, often involves poring over official speeches, documents and state-media coverage in a bid to divine insights from language, behavior and deviations from the norm.

From The Wall Street Journal

Its deviations from the source material are digressions done with love.

From Salon

Even in strong relationships, deviation creates noise—and noise is costly.

From The Wall Street Journal

According to Bespoke, a sector index is extremely overbought when it is trading more than two standard deviations above its 50-day moving average, which underscores the speed of this shift.

From MarketWatch

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.