What does sampled mean?
Sampled describes the act of taking a small portion or specimen of something for examination, testing, or use, as when a laboratory samples river water or a food manufacturer samples a production batch. It also has an important statistical meaning: researchers sample part of a population or data set to make observations about the larger whole. In this sense, sampled may refer to the selection itself, as in sampled data, or to the process of selecting it, as in randomly sampled participants. The word is neutral and widely used across scientific, technical, industrial, and everyday English. Its central idea is representativeness: by examining a carefully chosen portion, people can learn something about a larger collection without studying every part. This makes sampling important in research, quality control, surveying, cooking, music, and many other fields.
To take a small portion or specimen of something for examination, testing, or use; to select part of a population or data set for analysis.
"The inspector sampled several products from the shipment."
In research and statistics, sampling is the systematic selection of a subset from a larger population or collection.
Referring to a portion or subset selected as representative for examination or analysis.
"The researchers compared the sampled results with the complete data set."
This use is especially common in technical and scientific contexts, including sampled data and sampled estimates.
From a small taste to a vast population, the idea of sampling lets a tiny portion stand in for something far too large to inspect in full.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sampled come from?
The word belongs to the English noun sample, which in turn comes through Middle English from Old French sampler, a word associated with sampling or selecting. The verb developed from the practice of taking a specimen or portion for examination. The related forms sampler and sampling reflect this longstanding sense of selecting or testing a representative part.
Related word forms
How sampled is actually used
The word is neutral in register and common in scientific, statistical, industrial, and everyday contexts. As an adjective, it commonly appears in phrases such as sampled data and sampled population.
Easily confused with sampled
As an adjective, sampled describes a small selection used to represent a larger whole, as in sampled data, rather than the act of collecting such a selection.
A sample is the portion or specimen itself; sampled describes the act of taking it or the resulting portion used for analysis.