law of large numbers

noun

Mathematics.

1. the theorem in probability theory that the number of successes increases as the number of experiments increases and approximates the probability times the number of experiments for a large number of experiments.

law of large numbers

noun

1. the fundamental statistical result that the average of a sequence of n identically distributed independent random variables tends to their common mean as n tends to infinity, whence the frequency of the occurrence of an event in n independent repetitions of an experiment tends to its probability

law of large numbers

1. The rule or theorem that the average of a large number of independent measurements of a random quantity tends toward the theoretical average of that quantity.

2. Also called Bernoulli's law

Word History and Origins

Origin of law of large numbers¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

For years, pundits have been predicting that tech giants would eventually run up against the so-called “law of large numbers.”

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“The elite in that group really are elite. It’s a law of large numbers.”

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Opinion polling depends on a simple statistical principle: the law of large numbers.

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“It’s partly the law of large numbers,” Henry said.

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At almost 16 years old, Facebook has matured into a large organization that is increasingly grappling with the law of large numbers and decelerating growth rates.

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