Poisson distribution

American  

[pwah-sohn, pwa-sawn] / pwɑˈsoʊn, pwaˈsɔ̃ /

noun

Statistics.

1. a limiting form of the binomial probability distribution for small values of the probability of success and for large numbers of trials: particularly useful in industrial quality-control work and in radiation and bacteriological problems.

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Poisson distribution British  

/ ˈpwɑːsən /

noun

1. statistics a distribution that represents the number of events occurring randomly in a fixed time at an average rate λ ; symbol P 0 ( λ ). For large n and small p with np = λ it approximates to the binomial distribution Bi ( n,p )

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Poisson distribution Scientific  

/ pwä-sôn′ /

1. A probability distribution which arises when counting the number of occurrences of a rare event in a long series of trials. It is named after its discoverer, French mathematician and physicist Siméon Denis Poisson (1781–1840).

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Etymology

Origin of Poisson distribution

1920–25; named after S. D. Poisson (1781–1840), French mathematician and physicist

Example Sentences

In this case, the number of type B blood types that arrive roughly follows the Poisson distribution.

From Textbooks • Mar. 27, 2020

Now we find that the Poisson distribution can provide an approximation for the binomial.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

In this case, we were being a bit casual because the random variables of a Poisson distribution are discrete, whole numbers, and a box has width.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

As previously stated, the number of calls per minute has a Poisson distribution, with a mean of four calls per minute.

From Textbooks • Sep. 19, 2013

A mathematical analysis showed the number of coincidences followed a Poisson distribution very closely.

From Disturbing Sun by Richardson, Robert S. (Robert Shirley)