Representativeness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being typical or indicative of a larger group is termed a broader measure
2. It refers to the degree to which a sample accurately reflects the characteristics of a population
3. This concept describes how well a specific instance embodies the traits of a wider set

Etymology: "Representativeness" is a plain compound: "representative" with the suffix "-ness" attached. "Representative" came into English from Latin "repraesentare", meaning to bring before the eyes or to present again, and the adjective sense of standing for or typifying a larger group developed from that. The suffix "-ness" is native English, descended from Old English "-nes", and it turns an adjective into a noun denoting the quality or state of being that adjective. So "representativeness" names the quality of being typical of, or standing for, something larger. The suffix's ancestry runs far back, through Proto-Germanic forms that were used to build abstract nouns from adjectives, but in English its job has stayed the same for over a thousand years: "kindness", "darkness", "sadness" all work this way. The noun itself is a straightforward formation, with no single coiner or famous first use to point to.

Synonyms: typicality, similarity

Antonyms: atypicality