latent variable

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A variable that is not directly measured but is inferred by means of a mathematical model from one or more directly observed variables.

Word forms

latent variable latent variables

Etymology

The variables are latent (“hidden”) because they are not directly observed, but instead inferred from other variables.

Synonyms

hidden variable hypothetical construct hypothetical variable

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.