extrapolate
verbUK, US /ɛkˈstɹæp.əˌleɪt/ · AU /ekˈstɹæp.əˌlæɪt/
Etymology From extra- + (inter)polate.
1
To infer by extending known information.
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
2
Mathematics, Sciences To estimate the value of a variable outside a known range from values within that range by assuming that the estimated value follows logically from the known ones
- Antonyms
- interpolate
- Derived terms
- extrapolatable, extrapolation, extrapolative, extrapolator, extrapolatory, misextrapolate, misextrapolation, nonextrapolated, overextrapolate, unextrapolated
- Related terms
- expound