The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
epsilon squared
n.
A quantity even smaller than epsilon, as small in comparison to epsilon
as epsilon is to something normal; completely negligible. If you buy a
supercomputer for a million dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar
terminal to go with it is epsilon, and the cost of the ten-dollar cable
to connect them is epsilon squared. Compare lost in the underflow, lost
in the noise.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
epsilon squared
A quantity even smaller than epsilon, as small in
comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to something normal;
completely negligible. If you buy a supercomputer for a
million dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar terminal to
go with it is epsilon, and the cost of the ten-dollar cable
to connect them is epsilon squared.
Compare lost in the underflow, lost in the noise.
(1997-09-05)