Debias

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To remove or reduce bias in judgment, perception, or data; to correct or adjust techniques, processes, or analyses to eliminate partiality or distortion; to improve fairness and objectivity in evaluation or reasoning
2. To eliminate skew or prejudice in thinking, decisions, or information; to alter methods or procedures to counteract bias; to enhance accuracy and impartiality in assessments or interpretations
3. To adjust or revise opinions, measurements, or models to minimize bias; to counteract or compensate for tendencies that distort truth or fairness; to promote neutral and balanced understanding or conclusions

Etymology: "Debias" is built from the prefix "de-", meaning "remove" or "reverse," attached to "bias." The base word came into English from French "biais," meaning "slant" or "oblique," which is why the older sense of "bias" is a physical tilt or diagonal before it becomes a mental leaning. The word thus carries the literal image of a slope being flattened. Because "de-" works as a reversing prefix in many English verbs, such as "decode" or "deforest," "debias" follows a familiar pattern: to undo a bias. Its first sense concerns removing skew from a measurement or experiment, a meaning that reflects the statistical use of "bias" for systematic error. The verb's meaning has widened from that technical setting to cover people's judgments, decisions, and information in general, so one can debias a hiring process or a news summary.

Synonyms: correct, neutralize, counteract, rectify, adjust

Antonyms: bias, prejudice, distort