hypergeometric distribution

noun

hy·​per·​geo·​met·​ric distribution ˌhī-pər-ˌjē-ə-ˈme-trik- 

: a probability function f(x) that gives the probability of obtaining exactly x elements of one kind and n - x elements of another if n elements are chosen at random without replacement from a finite population containing N elements of which M are of the first kind and N - M are of the second kind and that has the form {latex}f(x) = \frac{\binom{M}{x} \binom{N - M}{n - x}}{\binom{N}{n}}\text{where} \binom{M}{x} = \frac{M!}{x! (M - x)!}{/latex}

Examples of hypergeometric distribution in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

People have already derived equations to estimate these probabilities, with names like the hypergeometric distribution, which has applications like election auditing and card counting. —New York Times, 7 July 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above