parameter (n.)

  1. a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves

    [ Syn: parametric quantity ]

  2. any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance

  3. (computer science) a reference or value that is passed to a function, procedure, subroutine, command, or program

    [ Syn: argument , argument ]

  4. a quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.