Interpolations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A method of estimating unknown values within a range of discrete points through mathematical calculations
2. The process of inserting additional values into a dataset to create a smoother curve or function
3. The act of filling in gaps in data by estimating values based on surrounding information or trends

Etymology: Interpolations is simply the plural of "interpolation," so the story belongs to the singular noun. The noun comes from French "interpolation," which descends from Latin "interpolatio," and it is built from "interpolate" plus the suffix "-ion," which turns a verb into a noun of action. The verb underneath it is the key. Latin "interpolare" meant to furbish or refurbish something, to alter or touch up, and the sense of inserting material into a text, which is where the modern idea of an added or substituted passage comes from, developed from that sense of altering. A scribe who added a passage to a manuscript was making an interpolation, and the word carried a suspicion that the insertion was not original. The meaning that matters for data is the mathematical one: estimating unknown values between known points. The same core idea, filling a gap between what is known on either side, links the scribe's added passage to the statistician's estimated value, though the two uses now sit far apart.

Synonyms: insertions, additions, modifications, alterations, adjustments