bias
/ˈbaɪ.əs/ noun, verb, adjective, adverb, proper noun
Forms biases biasses biasing biassing biased biassed
- noun (countable, uncountable) Inclination towards something.
- noun (countable, textiles) The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.
- noun (countable, textiles) A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
- noun (electronics) A voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.
- noun (statistics) The difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.
- noun (sports) In the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.
- noun (South Korean idol fandom) A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.
- verb (transitive) To place bias upon; to influence. “Our prejudices bias our views.”
- verb (electronics) To give a bias to.
- adjective Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.
- adjective Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.
- adjective (nonstandard) Synonym of biased (“exhibiting bias; prejudiced”).
- adverb In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally. “to cut cloth bias”
- proper noun (historical) One of the Seven Sages of Greece from Priene, living in the 6th century BCE.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
predisposition partiality prejudice preference predilection parti pris biased preconception diagonal predetermine
Antonyms
Etymology
c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570).
From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century.
The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).
From Ancient Greek Βίας (Bías).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A weight on the side of the ball used in the game of bowls, or a tendency imparted to the ball, which turns it from a straight line.
- noun A learning of the mind; propensity or prepossession toward an object or view, not leaving the mind indifferent; bent inclination.
- adjective Inclined to one side; swelled on one side. [Obs.] Shak.
- adjective Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.
Etymology [F. biasis, perh. fr. LL. bifax two- faced; L. bis + facies face. See Bi-, and cf. Face.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bias”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details