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mean

n. countable
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈmin// UK //mˈiːn// mean Archaic Dialect General-service Informal

n. the average of a set of numbers. You find it by adding all the numbers together and then dividing by how many numbers there are.

n. the mathematical average of a set of values, calculated by dividing the sum of all elements by the total count. Often used in statistical analysis to represent the central tendency of a data set.


SIMPLE

The mean of 2, 4, and 6 is 4.

CONTEXTUAL

To calculate the mean score for the class, the teacher added every student's grade and divided by thirty.

COMPLEX

While the median provides insight into the middle value of the distribution, the arithmetic mean is more sensitive to extreme outliers that can skew the overall average significantly.

Synonyms
Usage

Commonly used in technical or academic contexts; in everyday speech, 'average' is the more frequent synonym.

Idioms5 entries

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