Parameters
From Nordan Symposia
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Etymology
New Latin, from para- + Greek metron measure
- Date: 1852
Definitions
- 1 a : an arbitrary constant whose value characterizes a member of a system (as a family of curves); also : a quantity (as a mean or variance) that describes a statistical population
- b : an independent variable used to express the coordinates of a variable point and functions of them — compare parametric equation
- 2 : any of a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something <parameters of the atmosphere such as temperature, pressure, and density>
- 3 : something represented by a parameter : a characteristic element; broadly : characteristic, element, factor <political dissent as a parameter of modern life>
- 4 : limit, boundary —usually used in plural <the parameters of science fiction>