degree of freedom

English Thesaurus

1. (statistics) an unrestricted variable in a frequency distribution (noun.cognition)

hypernym	:	variable, variable quantity,
definition	:	a quantity that can assume any of a set of values (noun.cognition)

domain category	:	statistics,
definition	:	a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters (noun.cognition)

2. one of the minimum number of parameters needed to describe the state of a physical system (noun.cognition)

hypernym	:	parameter, parametric quantity,
definition	:	a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves (noun.cognition)