LEAST SQUARES

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does least squares mean? 

• LEAST SQUARES (noun)
  The noun LEAST SQUARES has 1 sense:

1. a method of fitting a curve to data points so as to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the curve

  Familiarity information: LEAST SQUARES used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEAST SQUARES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A method of fitting a curve to data points so as to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the curve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

least squares; method of least squares

Hypernyms ("least squares" is a kind of...):

statistical method; statistical procedure (a method of analyzing or representing statistical data; a procedure for calculating a statistic)

Domain category:

statistics (a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters)