probability distribution

American  

noun

Statistics.

1. a distribution of all possible values of a random variable together with an indication of their probabilities.

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probability distribution Scientific  

1. A function of a discrete random variable (that is, a variable whose values are obtained from a finite or countable set) yielding the probability that the variable will have a given value.

2. Also called probability density

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Etymology

Origin of probability distribution

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Their analysis showed that the resulting probability distribution did not align with the intended target and revealed extra noise in the experiment that had not been evaluated before.

From Science Daily • Dec. 1, 2025

The researchers have fed all the variables into the models, and developed a probability distribution for how conditions might develop in the future.

From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2024

If Alice uses steganography to send an encoded message to Bob, that message will have its own probability distribution.

From Scientific American • Jun. 15, 2023

It comes from constructing what’s called a probability distribution, and requires some basic grade-school statistics.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2022

Your chances of a 4 coming up only twice are a little harder to calculate unless you use the binomial probability distribution mentioned in Chapter 1, which I’ll derive again in this context.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos