[syn: arithmetic mean, first moment, expectation, expected value]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Expectation \Ex`pec*ta"tion\n. [L. expectio. exspectio: cf. F.
expectation.]
1. The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an
event as about to happen. "In expectation of a guest."
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation
is from him. --Ps. lxii. 5.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which is expected or looked for.
[1913 Webster]
Why our great expectation should be called
The seed of woman. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. The prospect of the future; grounds upon which something
excellent is expected to happen; prospect of anything good
to come, esp. of property or rank.
[1913 Webster]
His magnificent expectations made him, in the
opinion of the world, the best match in Europe.
--Prescott.
[1913 Webster]
By all men's eyes a youth of expectation. --Otway.
[1913 Webster]
4. The value of any chance (as the prospect of prize or
property) which depends upon some contingent event.
Expectations are computed for or against the occurrence of
the event.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Med.) The leaving of the disease principally to the
efforts of nature to effect a cure.
[1913 Webster]
Expectation of life, the mean or average duration of the
life individuals after any specified age.
Syn: Anticipation; confidence; trust.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
expectation
n 1: belief about (or mental picture of) the future [syn:
expectation, outlook, prospect]
2: anticipating with confidence of fulfillment [syn:
anticipation, expectation]
3: the feeling that something is about to happen
4: the sum of the values of a random variable divided by the
number of values [syn: arithmetic mean, first moment,
expectation, expected value]