ENGLISH
REFERENCE

percentile

n. countable
C1 Advanced US //pɝˈsɛnˌtaɪɫ// UK //pəsˈɛntaɪl// per·centile

n. a number that shows where you stand in a group of 100 people. If you are in the 90th percentile, you did better than 90 percent of the group.

n. a measure indicating the value below which a given percentage of observations in a group falls. Often used to compare individual performance against a larger population.


SIMPLE

Her test score is in the 95th percentile.

CONTEXTUAL

Doctors use growth charts to see if a child's height is in a healthy percentile for their age.

COMPLEX

While the raw score was impressive, being in the 99th percentile confirmed that the candidate was among the most elite performers in the country.

Synonyms
Origin

Coined by Francis Galton in 1885, from percent + -ile.

Usage

Usually preceded by an ordinal number (e.g., 10th, 50th, 90th) and the definite article 'the'.

Pitfall

He got a 90 percentile on the testHe was in the 90th percentileA percentile is a position in a ranking, not the score itself; it requires an ordinal number and the preposition 'in'.

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