noun
percentile
puh-SEHN-tyl
noun
1
A value on a scale of one hundred that shows the percentage of a data set falling below it.
"The baby's weight put her in the seventy-fifth percentile for her age."
"Scoring in the ninety-ninth percentile means almost everyone else scored lower."
How to Use Percentile
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA statistical marker showing where a value ranks compared to everyone else, out of 100.
Common mistake
Being in a high percentile is not the same as scoring a high percentage — the 90th percentile just means you beat 90% of people, not that you got 90% correct.
Word Forms
percentiles plural
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The baby's weight put her in the seventy-fifth _____ for her age.
Etymology
Coined in 1885 by the statistician Francis Galton, combining "percent" with the suffix "-ile" (as in "decile").