| n. | 1. | The act of introducing or inserting anything, especially that which is spurious or foreign. |
| 2. | That which is introduced or inserted, especially something foreign or spurious. | |
| 3. | (Math.) The method or operation of finding from a few given terms of a series, as of numbers or observations, other intermediate terms in conformity with the law of the series. |
| Noun | 1. | interpolation - a message (spoken or written) that is introduced or inserted; "with the help of his friend's interpolations his story was eventually told"; "with many insertions in the margins" Synonyms: insertion |
| 2. | interpolation - (mathematics) calculation of the value of a function between the values already known | |
| 3. | interpolation - the action of interjecting or interposing an action or remark that interrupts |
| (mathematics, algorithm) | interpolation - A mathematical procedure which
estimates values of a function at positions between listed
or given values. Interpolation works by fitting a "curve"
(i.e. a function) to two or more given points and then
applying this function to the required input. Example uses
are calculating trigonometric functions from tables and
audio waveform sythesis. The simplest form of interpolation is where a function, f(x), is estimated by drawing a straight line ("linear interpolation") between the nearest given points on either side of the required input value: f(x) ~ f(x1) + (f(x2) - f(x1))(x-x1)/(x2 - x1) There are many variations using more than two points or higher degree polynomial functions. The technique can also be extended to functions of more than one input. |