parameter
pronunciation
How to pronounce parameter in British English:
UK [pəˈræmɪtə(r)]
How to pronounce parameter in American English:
US [pəˈræmɪtər]
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- Noun:
- a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves
- any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance
- a quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data
Word Origin
- parameter (n.)
- 1650s in geometry, from Modern Latin parameter (1630s), from Greek para- "beside, subsidiary" (see para- (1)) + metron "measure" (see meter (n.2)). A geometry term until 1920s when it yielded sense of "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system" (1927). Common modern meaning (influenced by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor" is from 1950s. Related: Parametric.
Example
- 1. These strings are stored in a parameter named strings .
- 2. This parameter is reserved and must be zero .
- 3. The first parameter is an associative array .
- 4. This action takes an optional parameter $ name .
- 5. Table 2 lists each parameter and its role in the setinterval function .