percentile

American  

[per-sen-tahyl, -til] / pərˈsɛn taɪl, -tɪl /

noun

1. one of the values of a variable that divides the distribution of the variable into 100 groups having equal frequencies.

   Ninety percent of the values lie at or below the ninetieth percentile, ten percent above it.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a percentile or a division of a distribution by percentiles.

percentile British  

/ pəˈsɛntaɪl /

noun

1. Also called: centile.  one of 99 actual or notional values of a variable dividing its distribution into 100 groups with equal frequencies; the 90th percentile is the value of a variable such that 90% of the relevant population is below that value

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percentile Scientific  

/ pər-sĕn′tīl′ /

1. Any of the 100 equal parts into which the range of the values of a set of data can be divided in order to show the distribution of those values. The percentile of a given value is determined by the percentage of the values that are smaller than that value. For example, a test score that is higher than 95 percent of the other scores is in the 95th percentile.

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Etymology

Origin of percentile

First recorded in 1880–85; percent + -ile

Compare meaning

How does percentile compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• quantile vs. percentile

Example Sentences

The team classified wet extremes as water storage levels above the 90th percentile for a given region.

From Science Daily

Note: Zillow’s Home Value Index reflects the typical value for homes in the 35th to 65th percentile range and is seasonally adjusted.

From The Wall Street Journal

This handy chart below breaks out different tiers of net worth, from the 25th percentile to the top 1%, by age.

From MarketWatch

Their average test scores rose by 0.6 percentile points, meaning these schools are now outperforming a larger share of the country than they were before the ban went into effect.

From The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. market is trading above the 90th percentile historically on measures like the cyclically adjusted P/E ratio.

From Barron's