personal equation

American  

noun

1. the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.

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personal equation British  

noun

1. the variation or error in observation or judgment caused by individual characteristics

2. the allowance made for such variation

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Etymology

Origin of personal equation

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

The young man danced-walked up to another Black person several feet away from me and shared his personal revelation again.

From Salon • Jun. 10, 2025

Her regal reserve, her impassive expressions, her resistance to personal revelation — all of it made the queen, who died Thursday at 96, an irresistible object of imaginative speculation.

From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2022

This combination of personal revelation and synthesis works, for the most part.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2022

“I’m like, ‘I’m happy,’” Diggs said, recalling how a simple interaction grew into a personal revelation nine months into his first season in Buffalo.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 25, 2020

But when she had finished the last, and weighed the pros and cons, the little personal revelation of character contained in them forced itself on her notice.

From North and South by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn