Subsampled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A selected segment of a larger dataset that has undergone modification to reflect specific attributes needed for study
2. The act of choosing a smaller subset from a complete dataset to preserve significant features for comprehensive analysis
3. Chosen smaller part from a larger collection of data for further examination

Etymology: "Subsampled" is the past tense and past participle of "subsample," a verb formed from the prefix "sub-" (from Latin "sub," meaning "under" or "below," here in the sense of "a part of") and "sample." "Sample" entered English in the 14th century as a shortened form of the earlier "essample," which came through Old French "essample" from Latin "exemplum," meaning "example" or "pattern." So a sample was originally a thing that exemplified the whole, and a subsample is a sample taken from within a sample or dataset. The verb "subsample" is a modern technical coinage. It was built in English by attaching "sub-" to "sample" in the 20th century, when statisticians, surveyors, and later computer scientists needed a term for drawing a smaller, representative portion from a larger collection of observations. Its earliest uses are in scientific and statistical writing rather than general prose, which is why it still sounds specialized.

Synonyms: sampled, selected