probability

Noun

probability (countable and uncountable, plural probabilities)

1. The state of being probable.
   • For, a man may with as great probability derive the Scots pedigree from the Gods, as from Scota that ſuppoſed and counterfeit daughter of the Ægyptian King Pharao, wedded (forſooth) unto Gaithelus, the ſonne of Cecrops founder of Athens. But, as this conceit ariſing from the unskilfulneſſe of...1610, William Camden, “Scoti”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s...
   • Thus, firſt Traditions were a proof alone; / Cou’d we be certain ſuch they were ſo known: / But ſince ſome Flaws in long deſcent may be, / They make not Truth but Probability.1682, John Dryden, Religio Laici: Or, A Layman’s Faith, London: H. Hills, published 1710, page 21
2. An event that is likely to occur.
   • These waters wash from the rocks such glistering tinctures, that the ground in some places seemeth as guilded, that better iudgements then ours might haue been perswaded, they contained more then probabilities.1625, Capt. John Smith, The Trve Travels, Adventvres and Observations, volume I, Richmond: William W. Gray, published 1819, book II, page 115
   • As all experience shows, the probabilities are, that you will waste the rich treasure of your affection on one who has none to give in return, or who is wholly unworthy of the gift.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Old Man’s View of Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 274
3. The relative likelihood of an event happening.
   • Hoyle said that the probability of life originating on Earth is no greater than the chance that a hurricane, sweeping through a scrapyard, would have the luck to assemble a Boeing 747.2006, Richard Dawkins, “Why there almost certainly is no God”, in The God Delusion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 113
4. A number, between 0 and 1, expressing the precise likelihood of an event happening.
   • The probability of an event A occurring is denoted P(A).