n. 1. A relationship or connection between two things based on co-occurrence or pattern of change: a correlation between drug abuse and crime. 2. Statistics The tendency for two values or variables to change together, in either the same or opposite way: As cigarette smoking increases, so does the incidence of lung cancer, indicating a positive correlation. 3. An act of correlating or the condition of being correlated. [Medieval Latin correlātiō, correlātiōn- : Latin com-, com- + Latin relātiō, relation, report (from relātus, past participle of referre, to carry back; see RELATE).] cor′re·lation·al adj. |
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