interpolation
Americannoun
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the act or process of interpolating or the state of being interpolated.
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something interpolated, as a passage introduced into a text.
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Mathematics.
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the process of determining the value of a function between two points at which it has prescribed values.
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a similar process using more than two points at which the function has prescribed values.
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the process of approximating a given function by using its values at a discrete set of points.
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noun
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the act of interpolating or the state of being interpolated
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something interpolated
Other Word Forms
- noninterpolation noun
Etymology
Origin of interpolation
First recorded in 1605–15, interpolation is from the Latin word interpolātiōn- (stem of interpolātiō ). See interpolate, -ion
Explanation
An interpolation is an interruption or an addition inserted into something spoken or written. If you’re telling someone about the wild day you had, and your best friend keeps interrupting you to add details, that’s interpolation. Notice how interpolation looks a lot like interruption and interjection? It means something very similar. If you tell a story and then add some new parts, those are interpolations. If someone else adds new parts as you’re telling the story, that’s interpolation, too. Many ancient books have had new interpolations added every time they were printed. All interpolations add something to the original.
Vocabulary lists containing interpolation
The Book of Job: A Biography
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The Unforgettable Logan Foster
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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 framework relies on a mathematical strategy known as "tensor train cross interpolation" to achieve this compression.
From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2026
The production offers clues to this: In a silent interpolation, the Isolde double gives birth after Tristan dies, and Ms. Davidsen seemed to be singing her “Liebestod” to the baby.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
The girlies get their version of this too, with a Dodge commercial that centers on Glen Powell’s interpolation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears via a kind of bland bro-coded online masculinity.
From Slate • Feb. 10, 2025
It’s the Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” interpolation for me, and that song was totally ubiquitous for a period — but likely not for the Grammys.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 26, 2024
Surely this must be an interpolation by some wag.
From The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple by Addison, Charles G.
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.
