Prob`a*bil"i*ty, n.; pl.
Probabilities (#). [L. probabilitas: cf. F.
probabilité.]
1. The quality or state of being probable;
appearance of reality or truth; reasonable ground of presumption;
likelihood.
Probability is the appearance of the agreement
or disagreement of two ideas, by the intervention of proofs whose
connection is not constant, but appears for the most part to be
so.
Locke.
2. That which is or appears probable; anything
that has the appearance of reality or truth.
The whole life of man is a perpetual comparison of
evidence and balancing of probabilities.
Buckminster.
We do not call for evidence till antecedent
probabilities fail.
J. H. Newman.
3. (Math.) Likelihood of the occurrence
of any event in the doctrine of chances, or the ratio of the number of
favorable chances to the whole number of chances, favorable and
unfavorable. See 1st Chance, n., 5.
Syn. -- Likeliness; credibleness; likelihood; chance.
