miscalibration
|mis/cal/i/bra/tion|
🇺🇸
/ˌmɪskæləˈbreɪʃən/
🇬🇧
/ˌmɪskælɪˈbreɪʃən/
wrong adjustment causing error
Etymology
'miscalibration' originates from English, formed by the prefix 'mis-' + the noun 'calibration'. The prefix 'mis-' meant 'wrongly' or 'badly', and 'calibration' is from 'calibrate' (see below).
'calibration' derives from French 'calibrer' and from French noun 'calibre' (meaning 'measure, diameter'), which in turn traces back through Italian 'calibro' to Medieval Latin/Old French influences; 'calibre' ultimately traces to Arabic 'qālib' (قالب) meaning 'mold' or 'form'. The modern English 'miscalibration' developed by combining English 'mis-' with 'calibration'.
Originally related to marking or setting a scale (i.e., assigning 'calibre' or measure), the sense broadened to 'setting or adjusting for correct measurement'; 'miscalibration' initially referred to incorrect marking/setting and has evolved to refer generally to incorrect adjustments or mismatches (including abstract uses such as model probability mismatch).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the condition or instance of an instrument, device, or system being calibrated incorrectly; an error in calibration that causes measurements or outputs to be inaccurate.
A miscalibration of the pressure sensor produced consistently incorrect readings.
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Noun 2
in statistics and machine learning, a mismatch between predicted probabilities and observed frequencies — i.e., model outputs that are systematically over- or under-confident.
Miscalibration of the classifier meant its probability scores could not be interpreted as reliable likelihoods.
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Last updated: 2025/10/30 17:32