interpolation

Noun

interpolation (countable and uncountable, plural interpolations)

1. An abrupt change in elements, with continuation of the first idea.
2. The process of estimating the value of a function at a point from its values at nearby points.
3. The process of interpolating: including and processing externally-fetched data in a document or program.
   • In Perl, variable interpolation happens in double-quoted strings and patterns, and list interpolation occurs when constructing the list of values to pass to a list operator or other such construct that takes a LIST.2000, Wall, Christiansen, Jon Orwant, Programming Perl, 3rd edition, page 992

   Synonyms:

   transclusion

4. (content analysis) That which is introduced or inserted; in contexts of content analysis of centuries-old texts, especially something foreign or spurious.
   • Today a widely established convention encloses all editorial interpolations in square brackets [like so] for clarity.
   • Bentley wrote a letter […] upon the scriptural glosses in our present copies of Hesychius, which he considered interpolations from a later hand.1830, Thomas De Quincey, Life of Richard Bentley
5. (euphemistic) The use of a melody from a previously recorded song, but recreated rather than sampled from that recording.
   • The melody itself is an interpolation of "The Streets of Cairo," an Orientalist Tin Pan Alley song originally published in 1895.2015, Loren Kajikawa, Sounding Race in Rap Songs, page 147