sample

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsɑːm.pəl/, US /ˈsæm.pəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English saumple, borrowed from Anglo-Norman saumple, a shortening of Old French essample,^[2][3][4] from Latin exemplum (“a sample, example”),^[2][3] and partly a shortening of Middle English ensaumple.^[2][3] It is a doublet of example.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fact, story or case that illustrates or confirms a statement, a sense now obsolete: about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart, before 1300 in the OED.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word had many of the senses now found only in example, such as an incident that teaches a lesson, a model of conduct to imitate, and a warning.^[2][6] A small quantity of material from which the quality of the whole can be judged is from the early 15th century (1428 in the OED), later usually in a commercial sense.^[2][6] A specimen for scientific testing is from 1878, and in statistics, part of a population studied to estimate the whole, from 1903.^[6][2] The adjective is from 1820.^[3][2] The verb first meant “to match, parallel” (1592) and “to set an example of” (1600);^[3][6] “to take a sample of, test” is from 1767,^[3][2] and the current verb senses date from the mid 18th century.^[7] Recording part of a piece of music to reuse it in another is a late 20th-century sense.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – an illustrative case.^[2][3]
• 1428 – a part showing the quality of the whole.^[6]
• 1592 – verb, to match.^[3]
• 1767 – verb, to test by a sample.^[3][2]
• 1820 – adjective.^[3]
• 1878 – a specimen for analysis.^[6][2]
• 1903 – in statistics.^[6][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small part or amount that shows what the whole is like; a specimen.
2. (statistics) A set of people or things chosen from a population to estimate the whole.
3. A small amount of a product given free to try.
4. A piece of recorded sound reused in a new recording.

Verb

1. To take a sample of, especially in order to test it.
2. To try or experience briefly: sample the local food.
3. To record a piece of sound to reuse it in a new recording.

Adjective

1. Serving as an example: a sample question.

Word family

• intersample
• subsample
• resample
• sampler
• sample point
• sample room
• sample space

Related words

• example
• exemplary

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins