absolute deviation — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The absolute value of the difference between a given value (such as mean or expected value) and a variate value (usually an observed value).

2. The shortest distance between the center of the target and the point where the projectile hit or burst.

Noun

1. In statistics, the absolute difference between an element of a data set and a given point.

   Broader terms

   deviation

   Examples

   This average absolute deviation gives the average distance of any data item from the mean and thus is a good measure of spread.