Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bayes' theorem

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.48 in modern English

Syllables: bayes' the-o-rem
IPA

22

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A theorem expressed as an equation that describes the conditional probability of an event or state given prior knowledge of another event.

Example Sentences

"The starting point for many techniques in probabilistic classification is Bayes' theorem, which provides a way of relating evidence to a hypothesis."
"Bayes's theorem is a relationship between the conditional probabilities of two events."
"We have now seen how Bayes' theorem enables us to correctly update a prior probability for some unknown event when we see evidence about the event."

Etymology

Named after English mathematician Thomas Bayes (1701–1761), who developed an early formulation. The modern expression of the theorem is due to Pierre-Simon Laplace, who extended Bayes's work but was apparently unaware of it.

Inflected Forms

Bayes theorem (alternative) Bayes's theorem (alternative)

Phrases

conditional probability posterior probability prior probability

Frequently Paired Words

Bayesian conditional probability Laplacean posterior probability prior probability priors posteriors

Synonyms

Bayes' law Bayes' rule

Questions

What does bayes' theorem mean?: A theorem expressed as an equation that describes the conditional probability of an event or state given prior knowledge of another event.
Where does bayes' theorem come from?: Named after English mathematician Thomas Bayes (1701–1761), who developed an early formulation. The modern expression of the theorem is due to Pierre-Simon Laplace, who extended Bayes's work but was apparently unaware of it.

How to pronounce bayes' theorem

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