least squares

1. 1.

   a method of fitting a curve to data points so as to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the curve

   Synonymsmethod of least squares

   Broaderstatistical method

   statistics

Questions about least squares

What does least squares mean?

least squares means "a method of fitting a curve to data points so as to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the curve".

What is another word for least squares?

Close synonyms include method of least squares. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is least squares a common word?