correlation

[ kawr-uh-ley-shuhn, kor- ]

noun

1. mutual relation of two or more things, parts, etc.:

   Studies find a positive correlation between severity of illness and nutritional status of the patients.

   Synonyms: interconnection, interrelationship, interdependence, equivalence, parallelism, correspondence, similarity

2. the act of correlating or state of being correlated.
3. Statistics. the degree to which two or more attributes or measurements on the same group of elements show a tendency to vary together.
4. Physiology. the interdependence or reciprocal relations of organs or functions.
5. Geology. the demonstrable equivalence, in age or lithology, of two or more stratigraphic units, as formations or members of such.

correlation

/ ˌkɒrɪˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. a mutual or reciprocal relationship between two or more things
2. the act or process of correlating or the state of being correlated
3. statistics the extent of correspondence between the ordering of two variables. Correlation is positive or direct when two variables move in the same direction and negative or inverse when they move in opposite directions

Derived Forms

• ˌcorreˈlational, adjective

Other Words From

• corre·lation·al adjective
• inter·corre·lation noun
• miscor·re·lation noun
• noncor·re·lation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of correlation¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Medieval Latin: correlātiōn- (stem of correlātiō ); cor-, relation

Word History and Origins

Origin of correlation¹

C16: from Medieval Latin correlātiō, from com- together + relātiō, relation

Example Sentences

In the study, the correlation between psychotic-like experiences and depressive symptoms turned out to be strong.

From Science Daily

What’s more, the correlation between satisfaction and electoral outcomes isn’t even very close.

From Salon

This model effectively captured intensity variations from different scanning parameters and identified complex correlations with abnormality types by decoupling spatial features from each MRI sequence, leading to high classification accuracy.

From Science Daily

This correlation was discovered more than 40 years ago.

From Science Daily

It's also reported a correlation between the lack of access to education and a rise in child marriage and deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.

From BBC

Related Words

• interaction
• interrelationship
• parallel