nonparametric

English

Alternative forms

• non-parametric

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Germanic *ne

Proto-Indo-European *ís?

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos

Proto-Germanic *ainaz

Proto-Germanic *nainaz

Proto-West Germanic *nain

Old English nān

Middle English non

▲

Old English nān

Old English nān-

Middle English non-

English non-

English parametric

English nonparametric

From non- + parametric.

Adjective

nonparametric (not comparable)

1. (mathematics) Having a flexible number or nature of parameters which are not fixed in advance.
2. (statistics) Free of assumptions about the frequency distributions of the variables being assessed.

Synonyms

• (statistics): distribution-free

Derived terms

• nonparametric regression
• nonparametric statistics
• nonparametrics

Translations

mathematics: having a flexible number or nature of parameter

• Finnish: ei-parametrinen
• Greek: απαραμετρικός (el) (aparametrikós)

statistics: free of assumptions about the frequency distributions

• Finnish: ei-parametrinen
• Greek: απαραμετρικός (el) (aparametrikós)

References

• Simulation Modeling and Analysis, Law and Kelton, 2000
• (def. #2) First used in a paper by Jacob Wolfowitz(1942): "Additive Partition Functions and a Class of Statistical Hypotheses," Annals of Statistics, 13, 247-279