predictor

[pri-dik-ter]

See more synonyms for predictor on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person or thing that predicts.
Mathematics. a formula for determining additional values or derivatives of a function from the relationship of its given values.

Origin of predictor

From the Medieval Latin word praedictor, dating back to 1645–55. See predict, -tor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for predictor

Contemporary Examples

Gladwell argues that the quality of the school is less a predictor of individual success than individual merit is.
Malcolm Gladwell In Five Minutes: What to Know to Pretend You’ve Read the New Book
Thomas Flynn
October 5, 2013
The past is not a predictor of the future and we will need to be ready for the challenges ahead.
Industry Trailblazer to Aspiring Women Pros: Stand Up and Be Counted
Daily Beast Promotions
November 14, 2011
One predictor of violence within the marriage, however, is a disparity between husband and wife.
Hollywood's Kept Women
Gina Piccalo
October 10, 2010
Another found them twice as likely to be born below normal weights—itself a predictor of problems later in life.
The Dark Side of IVF
Debora Spar
October 5, 2010
But we also found that the shape—the roundness—of the pelvic crest was a predictor of breast disease in the daughters.
How Mom's Hip Size Predicts Her Daughter's Risk
Kent L. Thornburg, PhD
October 24, 2009

Historical Examples

He was a predictor, using his occult gift of second sight to foreknow events and tell The Leader about them.
The Leader
William Fitzgerald Jenkins (AKA Murray Leinster)
But whether he has not been the cause of this poor man's death, as well as the predictor, may be very reasonably disputed.
The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers
Jonathan Swift
And here we return again to take a new survey of him in the course of his public practice as a predictor.
The History of the Life and Adventures of Mr. Duncan Campell
Daniel Defoe
Hooker indeed seemed to have done what no predictor of events should do; he fixed on the period of its accomplishment.
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Isaac Disraeli

British Dictionary definitions for predictor

predictor

noun

a person or thing that predicts
an instrument, used in conjunction with an anti-aircraft gun, that determines the speed, distance, height, and direction of hostile aircraft
statistics a more modern term for independent variable

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

Word Origin and History for predictor

n.

1650s, from Medieval Latin praedictor, agent noun from praedicere (see predict). Statistical sense is from 1950.

predictor

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}predictor

Examples from the Web for predictor

Contemporary Examples

Gladwell argues that the quality of the school is less a predictor of individual success than individual merit is.

The past is not a predictor of the future and we will need to be ready for the challenges ahead.

One predictor of violence within the marriage, however, is a disparity between husband and wife.

Another found them twice as likely to be born below normal weights—itself a predictor of problems later in life.

But we also found that the shape—the roundness—of the pelvic crest was a predictor of breast disease in the daughters.

Historical Examples

He was a predictor, using his occult gift of second sight to foreknow events and tell The Leader about them.

But whether he has not been the cause of this poor man's death, as well as the predictor, may be very reasonably disputed.

And here we return again to take a new survey of him in the course of his public practice as a predictor.

Hooker indeed seemed to have done what no predictor of events should do; he fixed on the period of its accomplishment.

predictor

Word Origin and History for predictor

n.

Origin of predictor