noun
Meaning 1
The state of being probable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
probability
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpɹɒb.əˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/
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Canada, General-American: /ˌpɹɑb.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/
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Canada, General-American: [ˌpɹɑbəˈbɪləɾi]
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California, Southern: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /ˌpɹɔb.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/
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Australian: [ˌpɹɔbəˈbɪləɾi]
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rhymes with -ɪlɪti
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CMU ARPABET: P R AA2 B AH0 B IH1 L AH0 T IY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
An event that is likely to occur.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
The relative likelihood of an event happening.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A number, between 0 and 1, expressing the precise likelihood of an event happening.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: mathematics, sciences
Examples
- The probability of an event A occurring is denoted P(A).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
the quality of being probable; a probable event or the most probable event
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- for a while mutiny seemed a probability
- going by past experience there was a high probability that the visitors were lost
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: improbability
Broader terms: quality
Narrower terms: likelihood, likeliness
noun
Meaning 6
a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the probability that an unbiased coin will fall with the head up is 0.5
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: chance
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: measure, quantity, amount
Narrower terms: conditional probability, contingent probability, cross section, exceedance, fair chance, sporting chance, fat chance, slim chance, joint probability, risk, risk of exposure, risk of infection
History
Etymology
From Middle French probabilité, from Latin probābilitās (“probability, credibility”), from probābilis (“probable, credible”).
Across languages
Translations
151 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: հավանականություն (havanakanutʻyun) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Azerbaijani: ehtimal — state of being probable; likelihood
- Belarusian: імаве́рнасць (imavjérnascʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Belarusian: імаве́рнасьць (imavjérnasʹcʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Belarusian: вераго́днасць (vjerahódnascʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Belarusian: вераго́днасьць (vjerahódnasʹcʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Bulgarian: вероя́тност (verojátnost) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Catalan: probabilitat — state of being probable; likelihood
- Chinese Mandarin: 可能性 (kěnéngxìng) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Czech: pravděpodobnost — state of being probable; likelihood
- Dutch: waarschijnlijkheid — state of being probable; likelihood
- Finnish: todennäköisyys — state of being probable; likelihood
- French: probabilité — state of being probable; likelihood
- Galician: probabilidade — state of being probable; likelihood
- German: Wahrscheinlichkeit — state of being probable; likelihood
- Greek: πιθανότητα (pithanótita) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Ancient Greek: εἰκός (eikós) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Hindi: प्रायिकता (prāyiktā) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Hungarian: valószínűség — state of being probable; likelihood
- Indonesian: kemungkinan — state of being probable; likelihood
- Indonesian: probabilitas — state of being probable; likelihood
- Italian: probabilità — state of being probable; likelihood
- Japanese: 確率 (kakuritsu) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Korean: 확률 (hwangnyul) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Latin: probabilitas — state of being probable; likelihood
- Latvian: varbūtība — state of being probable; likelihood
- Macedonian: веро́јатност (verójatnost) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Malay: kebarangkalian — state of being probable; likelihood
- Malayalam: സാധ്യത (sādhyata) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Māori: tūponotanga — state of being probable; likelihood
- Polish: prawdopodobieństwo — state of being probable; likelihood
- Portuguese: probabilidade — state of being probable; likelihood
- Romanian: probabilitate — state of being probable; likelihood
- Russian: вероя́тность (verojátnostʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Russian: правдоподо́бие (pravdopodóbije) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Serbo-Croatian: вероја́тно̄ст — state of being probable; likelihood
- Serbo-Croatian: вјероја́тно̄ст — state of being probable; likelihood
- Serbo-Croatian: verojátnōst — state of being probable; likelihood
- Serbo-Croatian: vjerojátnōst — state of being probable; likelihood
- Slovak: pravdepodobnosť — state of being probable; likelihood
- Slovene: verjetnost — state of being probable; likelihood
- Spanish: probabilidad — state of being probable; likelihood
- Swedish: sannolikhet — state of being probable; likelihood
- Thai: ความน่าจะเป็น (kwaam-nâa-jà-bpen) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Ukrainian: імові́рність (imovírnistʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Ukrainian: правдоподі́бність (pravdopodíbnistʹ) — state of being probable; likelihood
- Zazaki: ihtimal — state of being probable; likelihood
- Belarusian: імаве́рнасць (imavjérnascʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Belarusian: імаве́рнасьць (imavjérnasʹcʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Belarusian: вераго́днасць (vjerahódnascʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Belarusian: вераго́днасьць (vjerahódnasʹcʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Bulgarian: вероя́тност (verojátnost) — event that is likely to occur
- Catalan: probabilitat — event that is likely to occur
- Finnish: todennäköinen tapahtuma — event that is likely to occur
- Galician: probabilidade — event that is likely to occur
- Italian: probabilità — event that is likely to occur
- Latin: probabilitas — event that is likely to occur
- Macedonian: веро́јатност (verójatnost) — event that is likely to occur
- Malay: kebarangkalian — event that is likely to occur
- Malayalam: സാധ്യത (sādhyata) — event that is likely to occur
- Portuguese: probabilidade — event that is likely to occur
- Russian: вероя́тность (verojátnostʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Serbo-Croatian: вероја́тно̄ст — event that is likely to occur
- Serbo-Croatian: вјероја́тно̄ст — event that is likely to occur
- Serbo-Croatian: verojátnōst — event that is likely to occur
- Serbo-Croatian: vjerojátnōst — event that is likely to occur
- Spanish: probabilidad — event that is likely to occur
- Thai: ความน่าจะเป็น (kwaam-nâa-jà-bpen) — event that is likely to occur
- Ukrainian: імові́рність (imovírnistʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Ukrainian: правдоподі́бність (pravdopodíbnistʹ) — event that is likely to occur
- Armenian: հավանականություն (havanakanutʻyun) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Belarusian: імаве́рнасць (imavjérnascʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Belarusian: імаве́рнасьць (imavjérnasʹcʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Belarusian: вераго́днасць (vjerahódnascʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Belarusian: вераго́днасьць (vjerahódnasʹcʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Bulgarian: вероя́тност (verojátnost) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Catalan: probabilitat — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Chinese Mandarin: 可能性 (kěnéngxìng) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Finnish: todennäköisyys — relative likelihood of an event happening
- French: probabilité — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Galician: probabilidade — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Icelandic: líkindi — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Italian: probabilità — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Japanese: 確率 (kakuritsu) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Japanese: 可能性 (kanōsei) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Japanese: 蓋然性 (gaizensei) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Khmer: ប្រូបាប៊ីលីតេ (proubaabiiliitee) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Korean: 확률 (hwangnyul) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Korean: 가능성 (ganeungseong) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Korean: 개연성 (gaeyeonseong) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Latin: probabilitas — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Latvian: varbūtība — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Macedonian: веро́јатност (verójatnost) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Malay: kebarangkalian — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Malayalam: സാധ്യത (sādhyata) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Māori: tūponotanga — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Portuguese: probabilidade — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Romanian: probabilitate — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Russian: вероя́тность (verojátnostʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Serbo-Croatian: вероја́тно̄ст — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Serbo-Croatian: вјероја́тно̄ст — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Serbo-Croatian: verojátnōst — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Serbo-Croatian: vjerojátnōst — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Spanish: probabilidad — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Thai: ความน่าจะเป็น (kwaam-nâa-jà-bpen) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Ukrainian: імові́рність (imovírnistʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Ukrainian: правдоподі́бність (pravdopodíbnistʹ) — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Vietnamese: xác suất — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Vietnamese: khả năng — relative likelihood of an event happening
- Armenian: հավանականություն (havanakanutʻyun) — mathematical probability
- Bulgarian: вероя́тност (verojátnost) — mathematical probability
- Catalan: probabilitat — mathematical probability
- Chinese Mandarin: 幾率 /几率 (jīlǜ) — mathematical probability
- Chinese Mandarin: 概率 (gàilǜ) — mathematical probability
- Czech: pravděpodobnost — mathematical probability
- Dutch: waarschijnlijkheid — mathematical probability
- Esperanto: probableco — mathematical probability
- Finnish: todennäköisyys — mathematical probability
- Galician: probabilidade — mathematical probability
- German: Wahrscheinlichkeit — mathematical probability
- Greek: πιθανότητα (pithanótita) — mathematical probability
- Hindi: प्रायिकता (prāyiktā) — mathematical probability
- Hindi: प्रसंभाव्यता (prasambhāvyatā) — mathematical probability
- Hindi: संभाव्यता (sambhāvyatā) — mathematical probability
- Hungarian: valószínűség — mathematical probability
- Indonesian: probabilitas — mathematical probability
- Indonesian: peluang — mathematical probability
- Italian: probabilità — mathematical probability
- Japanese: 確率 (kakuritsu) — mathematical probability
- Kannada: ಸಂಭವನೀಯತೆ (sambhavanīyate) — mathematical probability
- Korean: 확률 (hwangnyul) — mathematical probability
- Latin: probabilitas — mathematical probability
- Latvian: varbūtība — mathematical probability
- Macedonian: веро́јатност (verójatnost) — mathematical probability
- Malay: kebarangkalian — mathematical probability
- Malayalam: സംഭാവ്യത (sambhāvyata) — mathematical probability
- Māori: tūponotanga — mathematical probability
- Norwegian Bokmål: sannsynlighet — mathematical probability
- Norwegian Nynorsk: sannsyn — mathematical probability
- Polish: prawdopodobieństwo — mathematical probability
- Portuguese: probabilidade — mathematical probability
- Romanian: probabilitate — mathematical probability
- Russian: вероя́тность (verojátnostʹ) — mathematical probability
- Serbo-Croatian: вероја́тно̄ст — mathematical probability
- Serbo-Croatian: вјероја́тно̄ст — mathematical probability
- Serbo-Croatian: verojátnōst — mathematical probability
- Serbo-Croatian: vjerojátnōst — mathematical probability
- Spanish: probabilidad — mathematical probability
- Tagalog: kalagmitan — mathematical probability
- Thai: ความน่าจะเป็น (kwaam-nâa-jà-bpen) — mathematical probability
- Vietnamese: xác suất — mathematical probability
Real reading context