critical value

[ krit-i-kuhl val-yoo ]

noun

, Statistics.

1. the value of the random variable at the boundary between the acceptance region and the rejection region in the testing of a hypothesis:

   Each row in the table contains critical values for one of the t distributions.

Word History and Origins

Origin of critical value¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

“It’s a self-amplifying feedback loop mainly affecting salinity, and the fresher the North Atlantic Ocean becomes, the weaker the AMOC, until you reach a critical value,” said René van Westen, the study’s lead author.

From Los Angeles Times

If these exceed a critical value, the effect collapses.

From Science Daily

Somewhere in between is a critical value, called the percolation threshold, at which the fluid begins to flow all the way across the network.

From Scientific American

There is a critical value for this error rate.

From Scientific American

In fact, the notion — to reposition the DJ’s role from a party purveyor to an archivist, cultural custodian, and information specialist of music with critical value — emerged from a commissioned mixtape, “Soulful Critical Thought: bell hooks and the Making of a DJ Scholar.”

From Los Angeles Times