law of large numbers

American  

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.

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law of large numbers British  

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

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law of large numbers Scientific  

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

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Etymology

Origin of law of large numbers

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

The law of large numbers hasn’t seemed to catch up to Nvidia yet.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Seattle Times

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

From Seattle Times

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

From Salon

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

From Washington Times