What does bivariate mean?
Bivariate is an adjective used almost exclusively in statistics and mathematics to describe anything that involves two variables at once — for example, bivariate data, a bivariate distribution, or a bivariate analysis. Where a univariate study examines a single variable on its own, and a multivariate study handles three or more, a bivariate approach considers exactly two, typically to explore how they relate to each other: whether height correlates with weight, say, or how income varies with education. The word derives from the Latin prefix bi-, meaning 'two', combined with 'variate', a term rooted in the Latin varius ('changing' or 'diverse'). It carries a formal, technical register and rarely appears outside academic or scientific writing. Its everyday embodiment is familiar, however: any scatterplot, with its pairs of plotted values, is a portrait of bivariate data.
adjectiveInvolving, depending on, or relating to two variables; used chiefly in statistics to describe data, distributions, or analyses that consider two variables simultaneously.
- (Statistics) Involving or relating to two variables, as in bivariate data, a bivariate distribution, or a bivariate analysis.
"The researchers conducted a bivariate analysis to examine the relationship between income and education level."
"A scatterplot is the standard visual tool for exploring bivariate relationships between two continuous variables."
"The bivariate normal distribution describes the joint behavior of two random variables that may be correlated."
Every scatterplot you've ever drawn is a picture of bivariate data — one dot, two variables.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bivariate
Bivariate was formed from the Latin prefix bi-, meaning 'two', joined to 'variate', a statistical coinage derived ultimately from the Latin varius, meaning 'changing, diverse, or varying'. The same Latin root underlies a wide family of English words including variable, variant, variance, variety, and various. The word arose within twentieth-century statistical terminology, alongside its siblings univariate and multivariate, as statisticians needed precise terms to distinguish analyses involving one, two, or many variables.
How bivariate is actually used
Bivariate is a technical term confined almost entirely to statistics, mathematics, and quantitative research writing. It appears almost exclusively attributively (before a noun such as 'analysis', 'data', or 'distribution'), and using it outside academic or scientific contexts would sound overly formal.
Easily confused with bivariate
Univariate describes analyses or data involving a single variable, whereas bivariate involves exactly two variables considered together.
Multivariate refers to three or more variables analyzed simultaneously, while bivariate is limited to precisely two.