extrapolate
to infer (an unknown) from something that is known; conjecture.
Statistics. to estimate (the value of a variable) outside the tabulated or observed range.
Mathematics. to estimate (a function that is known over a range of values of its independent variable) to values outside the known range.
to perform extrapolation.
Origin of extrapolate
1Other words from extrapolate
- ex·trap·o·la·tion, noun
- ex·trap·o·la·tive, ex·trap·o·la·to·ry [ik-strap-uh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], /ɪkˈstræp ə ləˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjective
- ex·trap·o·la·tor, noun
- o·ver·ex·trap·o·la·tion, noun
Words that may be confused with extrapolate
- deduction, extrapolation , induction, generalization, hypothesis
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use extrapolate in a sentence
However, other members said data from older trial participants could be extrapolated to younger people.
With key endorsement, Pfizer vaccine speeds toward FDA emergency approval | Claire Zillman, reporter | December 11, 2020 | FortuneBy measuring the current expansion rate and extrapolating backward, they found that the universe must be less than 2 billion years old.
Perhaps the greatest contributor to this is the fact researchers are extrapolating from a very small population of planets.
There Could Be 300 Million (or More) Earth-Like Planets in Our Galaxy | Jason Dorrier | November 8, 2020 | Singularity HubOver a full, 162-game season, Atlanta’s tally extrapolates to 940 runs, which would have been the most in franchise history since the Boston Beaneaters scored 1,008 in 1893.
This Rotation Isn’t ‘Vintage Braves,’ But Atlanta Is Making It Work | Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com) | October 6, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightHoly moly, we have to look at Venus so we can extrapolate to all these other exoplanets.
Three ways scientists could search for life on Venus | Charlie Wood | October 1, 2020 | Popular-Science
British Dictionary definitions for extrapolate
/ (ɪkˈstræpəˌleɪt) /
maths to estimate (a value of a function or measurement) beyond the values already known, by the extension of a curve: Compare interpolate (def. 4)
to infer (something not known) by using but not strictly deducing from the known facts
Origin of extrapolate
1Derived forms of extrapolate
- extrapolation, noun
- extrapolative or extrapolatory, adjective
- extrapolator, noun
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
Scientific definitions for extrapolate
[ ĭk-străp′ə-lāt′ ]
To estimate the value of a quantity that falls outside the range in which its values are known.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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