random variable

American  

noun

Statistics.

1. a quantity that takes any of a set of values with specified probabilities.

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random variable British  

noun

1.  rv.  statistics a quantity that may take any of a range of values, either continuous or discrete, which cannot be predicted with certainty but only described probabilistically

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Etymology

Origin of random variable

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

Notice the parallel between this Table and Table 7.1 for the case where the random variable is continuous and we were developing the sampling distribution for means.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

We are measuring length of time of the interval, a continuous random variable, exponential, not events during an interval, Poisson.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

The number of events, four in the graph, is measured in counting numbers; therefore, the random variable of the Poisson is a discrete random variable.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

The myriad factors affecting innovativeness make the historian’s task paradoxically easier, by converting societal variation in innovativeness into essentially a random variable.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond