parameter
noun
Simple meaning
A fixed amount or number that controls something, like a setting
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
peramuhterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɚˈæmətɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves
A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation, or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc.
sciences
A variable that describes a property or characteristic of some system (material, object, event, etc.) or some aspect thereof.
statistics
A quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data
A characteristic or feature that distinguishes something from others.
statistics
Any measured quantity of a statistical population that summarises or describes an aspect of the population.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves
Used this way, parameter is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a mathematical use: it is defined precisely and belongs to working with figures and calculations rather than to ordinary conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Mathematics
- Geometry
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The ratio of the speed of recession of a galaxy (due to the expansion of the universe) to its distance from the observer.
The ratio of the speed of recession of a galaxy (due to the expansion of the universe) to its distance from the observer.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to or in terms of a parameter.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.