Interpolation
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An abrupt change in elements, with continuation of the first idea. countable, uncountable
- 2 the action of interjecting or interposing an action or remark that interrupts wordnet
- 3 The process of estimating the value of a function at a point from its values at nearby points. countable, uncountable
- 4 (mathematics) calculation of the value of a function between the values already known wordnet
- 5 The process of interpolating: including and processing externally-fetched data in a document or program. countable, uncountable
"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."
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- 6 a message (spoken or written) that is introduced or inserted wordnet
- 7 That which is introduced or inserted; in contexts of content analysis of centuries-old texts, especially something foreign or spurious. countable, uncountable
"Today a widely established convention encloses all editorial interpolations in square brackets [like so] for clarity."
- 8 The use of a melody from a previously recorded song, but recreated rather than sampled from that recording. countable, uncountable
"The melody itself is an interpolation of “The Streets of Cairo,” an Orientalist Tin Pan Alley song originally published in 1895."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From French interpolation, from Latin interpolatio. Morphologically interpolate + -ion.
Related phrases
More for "interpolation"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.