bias

Etymology

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century. The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Inclination towards something.
   nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 4
   Researchers worry that the people who are building artificial intelligence systems may be building their own biases into the technology. 2020-12-03, Cade Metz, Daisuke Wakabayashi, “Google Researcher Says She Was Fired Over Paper Highlighting Bias in A.I.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Reshaping [of British Railways] was far from perfect. It was tainted by statistical overreach, the unconscious biases of its author, and by the political demands being placed upon the BRB by government. March 8 2023, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 49
2. (countable, textiles) The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.
3. (countable, textiles) A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
4. (electronics) A voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.
5. (statistics) The difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.
6. (sports) In the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.
7. (South Korean idol fandom) A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.
   The last thing you want is for your camera to die when you finally get that selca with your bias. 2015, "Top 10 Tips For Travelling To Korea", UKP Magazine, Winter 2015, page 37
   Sweet, sensitive, and impossibly sassy, V is many fans' bias, and an integral member of the group. 2019, Katy Sprinkel, The Big Book of BTS: The Deluxe Unofficial Bangtan Book, unnumbered page
   One in particular, Minho, really caught my eye. He became what is called my bias or favorite member. 7 May 2019, Joelle Weatherford, “Can't stop the K-Pop train”, in The Eagle, Northeast Texas Community College, page 8

verb

1. (transitive) To place bias upon; to influence.
   Our prejudices bias our views.
   No doubt they overlook the L.M.R.'s allegedly faulty financial estimates for the Euston-Liverpool/Manchester scheme, which have biassed the Treasury, and perhaps the open-minded Dr. Beeching, against electrification without renewed examination of projects. 1963 June, “News and Comment: Le Plan Beeching”, in Modern Railways, page 364
2. (electronics) To give a bias to.
   2002, H. Dijkstra, J. Libby, Overview of silicon detectors, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 494, 86–93, p. 87. On the ohmic side n⁺ is implanted to provide the ohmic contact to bias the detector.

adj

1. Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.
2. Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.

adv

1. In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally.
   to cut cloth bias