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

A household with $83,730 is at the 50th percentile, right in the middle of the income distribution.

From MarketWatch

Load factors around the 90th percentile mean that most U.S. flights have under a dozen seats available, making rebooking and recovery from any flight cancellations slow.

From MarketWatch

Load factors around the 90th percentile mean that most U.S. flights have under a dozen seats available, making rebooking and recovery from any flight cancellations slow.

From MarketWatch

Americans between the 90th and 99th percentiles have more wealth than all the groups below them combined.

From The Wall Street Journal

This places the current positioning in the 90th percentile in the last five-year period.

From MarketWatch