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definitions

sample

[sam-puh l, sahm-]
See more synonyms for sample on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a small part of anything or one of a number, intended to show the quality, style, or nature of the whole; specimen.
  2. Statistics. a subset of a population: to study a sample of the total population.
  3. a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.
adjective
  1. serving as a specimen: a sample piece of cloth.
verb (used with object), sam·pled, sam·pling.
  1. to take a sample or samples of; test or judge by a sample.

Origin of sample

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English word from Old French word essample. See example
Related formsin·ter·sam·ple, noun, adjective, verb (used with object), in·ter·sam·pled, in·ter·sam·pling.mis·sam·ple, verb, mis·sam·pled, mis·sam·pling.re·sam·ple, verb (used with object), re·sam·pled, re·sam·pling.

Synonym study

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

Related Words for sample

case, fragment, pattern, specimen, piece, sampling, savor, examine, sip, inspect, individual, bite, morsel, illustration, sign, instance, portion, part, indication, representative

Examples from the Web for sample

Contemporary Examples of sample

Historical Examples of sample

British Dictionary definitions for sample

sample

noun
    1. a small part of anything, intended as representative of the whole; specimen
    2. (as modifier)a sample bottle
  2. Also called: sampling statistics
    1. a set of individuals or items selected from a population for analysis to yield estimates of, or to test hypotheses about, parameters of the whole population. A biased sample is one in which the items selected share some property which influences their distribution, while a random sample is devised to avoid any such interference so that its distribution is affected only by, and so can be held to represent, that of the whole populationSee also matched sample
    2. (as modifier)sample distribution
verb
  1. (tr) to take a sample or samples of
  2. music
    1. to take a short extract from (one record) and mix it into a different backing track
    2. to record (a sound) and feed it into a computerized synthesizer so that it can be reproduced at any pitch

Word Origin for sample

C13: from Old French essample, from Latin exemplum example
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 sample
n.

c.1300, "something which confirms a proposition or statement," from Anglo-French saumple, a shortening of Old French essample, from Latin exemplum "a sample" (see example). Meaning "small quantity (of something) from which the general quality (of the whole) may be inferred" (usually in a commercial sense) is recorded from early 15c.; sense of "specimen for scientific sampling" is from 1878. As an adjective from 1820.

v.

"to test by taking a sample," 1767, from sample (n.). Earlier "to be a match for" (1590s). Related: Sampled; sampling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sample in Culture

sample

In statistics, a group drawn from a larger population and used to estimate the characteristics of the whole population.

Note

Opinion polls use small groups of people, often selected at random, as a sample of the opinions of the general public.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.