probability

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: prob=a=bil=i=ty

CIDE DICTIONARY

probability, n. [L. probabilitas: cf. F. probabilité.].

•  The quality or state of being probable; appearance of reality or truth; reasonable ground of presumption; likelihood.  [1913 Webster]

  "Probability is the appearance of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas, by the intervention of proofs whose connection is not constant, but appears for the most part to be so."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which is or appears probable; anything that has the appearance of reality or truth.  [1913 Webster]

  "The whole life of man is a perpetual comparison of evidence and balancing of probabilities."  [1913 Webster]

  "We do not call for evidence till antecedent probabilities fail."  [1913 Webster]
•  Likelihood of the occurrence of any event in the doctrine of chances, or the ratio of the number of favorable chances to the whole number of chances, favorable and unfavorable. See 1st Chance, n., 5.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Likeliness; credibleness; likelihood; chance.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

probability, n. (pl. -ies)
1 the state or condition of being probable.
2 the likelihood of something happening.
3 a probable or most probable event (the probability is that they will come).
4 Math. the extent to which an event is likely to occur, measured by the ratio of the favourable cases to the whole number of cases possible.

Idiom

in all probability most probably.

Etymology

F probabilit{eacute} or L probabilitas (as PROBABLE)

THESAURUS

probability

a thing for, accidentality, actuarial calculation, actuarial prediction, adventitiousness, affinity, aftertime, afteryears, anticipation, apocalypse, aptitude, aptness, bare possibility, bent, best bet, bias, break, by-and-by, cast, casualness, certainty, chance, chances, conatus, conceivability, conceivableness, conduciveness, confidence, contemplation, contingency, course ahead, crystal ball, delight, destiny, determinism, diathesis, disposition, distant future, eagerness, even chance, eventuality, expectancy, expectation, fate, favorable prospect, feeling for, flukiness, foreboding, forecast, forecasting, foreshowing, foresight, foretelling, fortuitousness, fortuity, fortune, forward look, future, future tense, futurism, futurity, gamble, good chance, good fortune, good luck, good opportunity, good possibility, guesswork, hap, happenstance, happy chance, heedless hap, hereafter, hope, how they fall, immediate future, immediate prospect, imminence, improbability, inclination, indeterminacy, indeterminateness, law of averages, leaning, liability, liableness, likelihood, likeliness, liking, lot, luck, main chance, moira, near future, obligation, odds, odds-on, odds-on chance, off chance, offing, omen, opportunity, outlook, outside chance, outside hope, penchant, possibility, possibleness, posteriority, potential, potentiality, prediction, predilection, predisposition, prefiguration, prefigurement, prefiguring, prejudice, presage, presaging, presentiment, preshowing, presignifying, presumption, principle of indeterminacy, problematicness, proclivity, prognosis, prognostication, project, promise, proneness, propensity, prophecy, prophesying, prospect, prospectus, random sample, readiness, reliance, remote possibility, risk, run of luck, sensitivity to, serendipity, small hope, soft spot, soothsay, speculation, sporting chance, statistical prediction, statistical probability, sure bet, sure thing, susceptibility, tendency, the attainable, the breaks, the feasible, the future, the morrow, the possible, the sweet by-and-by, theory of probability, thinkability, thinkableness, thought, time ahead, time just ahead, time to come, tomorrow, tropism, turn, twist, unastonishment, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, vaticination, virtuality, warp, weakness, well-grounded hope, what is possible, what may be, what might be, whatever comes, willingness

ROGET THESAURUS

probability

Chance

N chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I.

Probability

N probability, likelihood, credibleness, likeliness, vraisemblance, verisimilitude, plausibility, color, semblance, show of, presumption, presumptive evidence, circumstantial evidence, credibility, reasonable chance, fair chance, good chance, favorable chance, reasonable prospect, fair prospect, good prospect, favorable prospect, prospect, wellgrounded hope, chance, probable, likely, hopeful, to be expected, in a fair way, plausible, specious, ostensible, colorable, ben trovato, well-founded, reasonable, credible, easy of belief, presumable, presumptive, apparent, probably, belike, in all probability, in all likelihood, very likely, most likely, like enough, odds on, odds in favor, ten to one, apparently, seemingly, according to every reasonable expectation, prim=a facie, to all appearance, the chances, the odds are, appearances are in favor of, chances are in favor of, there is reason to believe, there is reason to think, there is reason to expect, I dare say, all Lombard Street to a China orange.