Percentile Meaning
/pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAny of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.
nounAny one of the hundred groups so divided.
Sentence Examples
Tom is in the first percentile for maths in Australia.
This test places you in the 90th percentile of the population.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her test score placed her in the 95th ____ of national applicants this year.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her test score placed her in the ninety-fifth ____, meaning she outperformed most of her peers.
Word Origin & History
Coined by Francis Galton in 1885, from percent + -ile.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Also, doctors are much more interested in the relationship between the percentiles for weight and length than they are the numbers themselves. Healthy babies tend to land in somewhat similar percentiles for both metrics and are probably getting enough nutrition.
This goes for those babies who don’t chart at all. Because it is impossible for researchers to determine what is the largest and smallest possible weight and length for babies, designers begin the charts at the fifth percentile and end them at the 95th percentile. This means 10% of babies are, like my son, unchartable."
— 2018 April 4, Elissa Strauss, “Growth charts for kids don’t measure up”, in CNN, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2018:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
Her test score placed her in the 95th ____ of national applicants this year.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her test score placed her in the ninety-fifth ____, meaning she outperformed most of her peers.