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mean deviation

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noun Statistics.
  1. a measure of dispersion, computed by taking the arithmetic mean of the absolute values of the deviations of the functional values from some central value, usually the mean or median.

Origin of mean deviation

First recorded in 1890–95
Also called average deviation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for mean deviation

mean deviation

noun statistics
  1. the difference between an observed value of a variable and its mean
  2. Also: mean deviation from the mean, mean deviation from the median, average deviation a measure of dispersion derived by computing the mean of the absolute values of the differences between observed values of a variable and the variable's mean
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
mean deviation in Science

mean deviation

  1. In a statistical distribution, the average of the absolute values of the differences between individual numbers and their mean.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.