extrapolate

English

WOTD – 22 October 2008

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰsteros

Proto-Italic *eksteros

Latin exter

Latin extrā

English extra-

English (inter)polate

English extrapolate

From extra- + (inter)polate.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɛkˈstɹæp.əˌleɪt/, /ɪk-/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Australian) IPA^(key): /ekˈstɹæp.əˌlæɪt/

  • Audio (Australian):

    (file)

Verb

extrapolate (third-person singular simple present extrapolates, present participle extrapolating, simple past and past participle extrapolated)

1. (transitive) To infer by extending known information.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

     With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]

2. (transitive, mathematics) To estimate the value of a variable outside a known range from values within that range by assuming that the estimated value follows logically from the known ones

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “mathematics”): interpolate

Derived terms

• extrapolatable
• extrapolation
• extrapolative
• extrapolator
• extrapolatory
• misextrapolate
• misextrapolation
• nonextrapolated
• overextrapolate
• unextrapolated

Translations

to infer by extending known information

• Catalan: extrapolar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 外推 (zh) (wài tuī)

• Czech: extrapolovat
• Danish: ekstrapolere
• Finnish: yleistää (fi)
• French: extrapoler (fr)
• Galician: extrapolar (gl)
• German: extrapolieren (de), erschließen (de), hochrechnen (de)
• Hungarian: extrapolál (hu)
• Irish: eachtarshuigh
• Italian: estrapolare (it)
• Macedonian: екстраполира (ekstrapolira)
• Polish: ekstrapolować impf
• Portuguese: extrapolar (pt)
• Romanian: extrapola (ro)
• Russian: экстраполи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (ekstrapolírovatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: ekstrapolírati (sh)
• Spanish: extrapolar (es)
• Ukrainian: екстраполюва́ти (uk) impf or pf (ekstrapoljuváty)

to estimate the value of a variable outside a known range

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 外推 (zh) (wài tuī)

• Czech: extrapolovat
• Danish: ekstrapolere
• Finnish: ekstrapoloida (fi)
• French: extrapoler (fr)
• German: extrapolieren (de)
• Irish: eachtarshuigh
• Italian: estrapolare (it)
• Polish: ekstrapolować impf
• Portuguese: extrapolar (pt)
• Russian: экстраполи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (ekstrapolírovatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: ekstrapolírati (sh)
• Swedish: extrapolera (sv)
• Tagalog: iduklay
• Ukrainian: екстраполюва́ти (uk) impf or pf (ekstrapoljuváty)

See also

• expound (upon)

Spanish

Verb

extrapolate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of extrapolar combined with te