Parameters

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>