standard error

American  

noun

Statistics.

1. the standard deviation of a distribution of a sample statistic, especially when the mean is used as the statistic.

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standard error British  

noun

1. statistics the estimated standard deviation of a parameter, the value of which is not known exactly

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standard error Scientific  

1. The standard deviations of the sample in a frequency distribution, obtained by dividing the standard deviation by the total number of cases in the frequency distribution.

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Etymology

Origin of standard error

First recorded in 1895–1900

Compare meaning

How does standard-error compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• standard deviation vs. standard error

Example Sentences

So, each IQ test score has a standard error of measurement that accounts for the margin of error above and below the test-taker’s score.

From Slate • Dec. 8, 2025

You are reading a research article that refers to the standard error of the mean.

From Textbooks • Mar. 27, 2020

This is sometimes called the standard error of the estimate.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

The Error Bound gets its name from the recognition that it provides the boundary of the interval derived from the standard error of the sampling distribution.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

The standard input is one source of the process's data; the standard output is one place the process sends data; and the standard error is a place the process can send error messages.

From Debian GNU/Linux : Guide to Installation and Usage by Goerzen, John