arithmetic mean

arithmetic mean (plural arithmetic means)

2. (statistics, probability) The measure of central tendency of a set of values computed by dividing the sum of the values by their number.

   Synonyms: mean (often elliptically synonymous), arithmetic average, average (narrow sense)

   Hypernyms: mean (broad sense) < average (broad sense)

   Coordinate terms: geometric mean, harmonic mean, quadratic mean, weighted mean; median; mode

   Near-synonym: average (often synonymous when not otherwise specified, but see the usage note)

   The arithmetic mean of 3, 6, 2, 3 and 6 is ${\displaystyle (3+6+2+3+6)\div 5=4}$.

• In scientific and economic contexts, this term is preferable to average, which can also mean the mode or the median depending on context.

• measure of central tendency
• Pythagorean mean