deviation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a difference from what is usual or expected.
the act of departing from an established course, principle, or standard.
Simple“Any deviation from the original plan must be approved by the manager.”
In context“The committee noted a significant deviation from the safety protocols during the inspection of the chemical plant.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
the difference between a particular value and the average value of a group.
the difference between an observed value and the arithmetic mean of a distribution.
Simple“The standard deviation shows how much the test scores vary from the average.”
In context“A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be very close to the mean of the set.”
UsageOften used in the phrase 'standard deviation' to describe how spread out numbers are.
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
a move away from a planned path or direction, such as a plane changing course to avoid a storm.
a physical departure from a planned or regular course, especially in navigation or transport.
Simple“The pilot requested a deviation to the south to avoid the heavy clouds.”
In context“The ship's deviation from its charted course was necessary to avoid the approaching hurricane, though it delayed the arrival by two days.”
Usage standard deviation
“In terms of surprise, however, there were only minor deviations from the reference values.”
“This helps to capture any potential “butterfly effect,” says Alet, where a small deviation from a trend could lead to much bigger changes down the line.”
From Middle French deviation, from Medieval Latin deviatio. Morphologically deviate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.