expectation
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Latin expectationem, from expectare.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
expectation (plural expectations)
- The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an event as about to happen.
- That which is expected or looked for.
- The prospect of the future; grounds upon which something excellent is expected to occur; prospect of anything good to come, especially of property or rank.
- 1816: Jane Austen, Emma, Volume 1 Chapter 7
- Emma was not sorry to be pressed. She read, and was surprized. The style of the letter was much above her expectation. There were not merely no grammatical errors, but as a composition it would not have disgraced a gentleman; the language, though plain, was strong and unaffected, and the sentiments it conveyed very much to the credit of the writer. It was short, but expressed good sense, warm attachment, liberality, propriety, even delicacy of feeling. She paused over it, while Harriet stood anxiously watching for her opinion, with a "Well, well," and was at last forced to add, "Is it a good letter? or is it too short?"
- 1816: Jane Austen, Emma, Volume 1 Chapter 7
- The value of any chance (as the prospect of prize or property) which depends upon some contingent event.
- (statistics) The first moment; the long-run average value of a variable over many independent repetitions of an experiment.
- (colloquial statistics) the arithmetic mean
- (medicine) (rare) The leaving of a disease principally to the efforts of nature to effect a cure.
[edit] Usage notes
- (value of any chance): Expectations are computed for or against the occurrence of the event.
[edit] Synonyms
- (colloquial statistics, arithmetic mean): arithmetic mean; average
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
act or state of expecting
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that which is expected or looked for
[edit] See also
- (statistics): w:Expected value
