dummy variable

British

noun

a variable appearing in a mathematical expression that can be replaced by any arbitrary variable, not occurring in the expression, without affecting the value of the whole

"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

Example Sentences

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X2 is the dummy variable and X1 is some continuous random variable.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

Any of the other independent variables could have been chosen to illustrate the effect of the dummy variable.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

Note that, like the index in a sum, the variable of integration is a dummy variable, and has no impact on the computation of the integral.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

The index is therefore called a dummy variable.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

The variable v acts as a dummy variable that disappears after integration, leaving the arc length as a function of time t.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

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