kurtosis
|kur-to-sis|
🇺🇸
/kɜːrˈtoʊsɪs/
🇬🇧
/kɜːˈtəʊsɪs/
shape of distribution's tails
Etymology
'kurtosis' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'kyrtōsis,' where 'kyrtos' meant 'curved' or 'arched.'
'kyrtōsis' was adopted into scientific Latin as 'kurtosis,' and eventually became the modern English word 'kurtosis' in the field of statistics.
Initially, it meant 'curvature' or 'arched shape,' but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'a statistical measure of the shape of a distribution.'
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a statistical measure that describes the shape of a distribution's tails in relation to its overall shape, especially how heavy or light the tails are compared to a normal distribution.
The kurtosis of the data set indicates the presence of outliers.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/08/06 03:55