See Also: PROBABILITY(law)
Probability(casino)
probability(dictionary)
probability(dictionary)
Probability(finance)
Probability(money)
Probability(medicine)
Probability function(money)
Probability distribution(money)
Objective probability(money)

probability (iou)



probability noun. LME.
[(Old & mod. French probabilite from) Latin probabilitas, from probabilis: see PROBABLE, -ITY.]
The quality or fact of being probable; degree of likelihood; the appearance of truth, or likelihood of being realized, which a statement or event bears in the light of present evidence. LME.
in all probability probably; considering what is probable.
A. Storr Protracted imprisonment actually increases the probability that subsequent offences will be committed.
An instance of this; a probable event, circumstance, belief, etc.; a thing judged likely to be true, to exist, or to happen. Usu. in pl. LME.
J. A. Froude Wolsey's return to power was discussed openly as a probability.
b. The most probable thing. M19.
Financial Review (Melbourne) The probability is that the commission will deliver another of its weasel judgements.
Math. As a measurable quantity: the extent to which a particular event is likely to occur, or a particular situation be the case, expressed by a number between 0 and 1 and commonly estimated by the ratio of the number of favourable cases to the total number of all possible cases. E18.
posterior probability: see POSTERIOR adjective 1. prior probability: see PRIOR adjective.
F. Keay In throwing a..six-sided dice, the probability of throwing a four is 1 / 6.
Comb.: probability curve Math. a graph of a probability distribution; probability density Math. a probability distribution that is a continuous function; probability distribution Math. a function whose integral over any interval is the probability that the variate specified by it will lie within that interval; probability theory a branch of mathematics that deals with quantities having random distributions.