MATHEMATICAL EXPECTATION Definition & Meaning

mathematical expectation

noun

Mathematics. the product of the probability of the occurrence of an event and the value associated with the occurrence of a given event.
Statistics. the summation or integration, over all values of a variate, of the product of the variate and its probability or its probability density.

mathematical expectation

noun

statistics another name for expected value

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of mathematical expectation¹

First recorded in 1830–40

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

John Maynard Keynes wrote that gut feelings — or “animal spirits,” as he called them — were often more important to investment decisions than a “mathematical expectation.”

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Allowing out of that one chance in every thirty-six, which is the average of zero being marked, and two hundred and four times for the backers of the other numbers, I have the mathematical expectation of six times at least, which would nearly recoup me.

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