extrapolated; extrapolating
1
a : to predict by projecting past experience or known data extrapolate public sentiment on one issue from known public reaction on others b : to project, extend, or expand (known data or experience) into an area not known or experienced so as to arrive at a usually conjectural knowledge of the unknown area extrapolates present trends to construct an image of the future2
: to infer (values of a variable in an unobserved interval) from values within an already observed interval
Did you know?The Many Uses of Extrapolate
Scientists worry about the greenhouse effect because they have extrapolated the rate of carbon-dioxide buildup and predicted that its effect on the atmosphere will become increasingly severe. On the basis of their extrapolations, they have urged governments and businesses to limit factory and automobile emissions. Notice that it's acceptable to speak of extrapolating existing data (to produce new data), extrapolating from existing data (to produce new data), or extrapolating new data (from existing data)—in other words, it isn't easy to use this word wrong.
Examples of extrapolate in a SentenceWe can extrapolate the number of new students entering next year by looking at how many entered in previous years. With such a small study it is impossible to extrapolate accurately.
Recent Examples on the Web Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. But Everton remain resurgent under Moyes, taking 21 points in his 13 league games in charge, which would work out at 61 points extrapolated across a whole season. —Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025 After all, one of the most prevalent cognitive-behavioral biases is recency which extrapolates the most recent conditions as far as the eye can see. —James Berman, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025 As well as providing guardrails for safe and reliable processes, physics enables data-efficient models that extrapolate scenarios without training data. —Expert Panel®, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025 The researchers followed up in 2022 with a reconstructed 3D model, extrapolating the dimensions from a megalodon specimen (a vertebral column) in Belgium. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 9 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for extrapolate Word HistoryEtymology
Latin extra outside + English -polate (as in interpolate) — more at extra-
First Known Use
1874, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2
Time Traveler
The first known use of extrapolate was in 1874 Cite this Entry“Extrapolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extrapolate. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
Last Updated: 3 May 2025 - Updated example sentencesLove words? Need even more definitions?
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