correlation coefficient

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

correla′tion coeffi′cient, [Statistics.]

1. Statistics one of a number of measures of correlation, usually assuming values from +1 to -1.

Also called coefficient of correlation. 

• 1905–10

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

correlation coefficient noun

1. a statistic measuring the degree of correlation between two variables as by dividing their covariance by the square root of the product of their variances. The closer the correlation coefficient is to 1 or –1 the greater the correlation; if it is random, the coefficient is zero