GC: n
S: NM (last access: 5 January 2026); NCBI (last access: 5 January 2026).
N: 1. 1520s, “oblique or diagonal line,” from French biais “a slant, a slope, an oblique,” also figuratively, “an expedient, means” (13c., originally in Old French a past-participle adjective, “sideways, askance, against the grain”), a word of unknown origin. Probably it came to French from Old Provençal biais, which has cognates in Old Catalan and Sardinian, and is possibly [Klein] via Vulgar Latin *(e)bigassius from Greek epikarsios “athwart, crosswise, at an angle,” from epi “upon” (see epi-) + karsios “oblique” (from PIE *krs-yo-, suffixed form of root *sker- (1) “to cut”).
In the old game of bowls, it was a technical term used in reference to balls made with a greater weight on one side, causing them to curve obliquely (1560s); hence the figurative use “a one-sided tendency of the mind” (1570s), and, at first especially in law, “undue propensity or prejudice.”
- Bias is a polysemic word that can be found in the Cambridge Dictionary with several meanings and definitions:
1. n. The action of supporting or opposing a particular person or thing in an unfair way, because of allowing personal opinions to influence your judgment.
2. n. The fact of preferring a particular subject or thing.
3. n. The fact of a collection of data containing more information that supports a particular opinion than you would expect to find if the collection had been made by chance.
4. n. [In bowls] (= a game in which the players roll a large black or brown ball as close as possible to a smaller white ball), the shape given to one side of the ball that makes it not round.
5. n. [Clothing] A direction at an angle across the threads of woven material.
6. vtr. to cause someone or something to have a bias.
7. n. [Finance] The fact of prices, etc. increasing or decreasing.
2. A flaw in the study design or the method of collecting or interpreting information.
3. Statistics; Scientific Measurements and Analyses: bias
- A systematic deviation of a value from a reference value.
- bias: term standardized by ISO and CSA.
Statistics; Scientific Research; General Medicine, Hygiene and Health: selection bias, patient selection bias.
- A type of bias due to an error in the estimation of the effect of an intervention because of the way in which the subjects were selected in the population of interest.
- There is selection bias in cohort studies if the recruitment of the subjects who are exposed (not exposed) is linked to the presence of the disease. In case-control studies, selection bias occurs if the recruitment of the cases (controls) is linked to exposure to the factor of interest.
- selection bias; patient selection bias: terms and definition standardized by the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Glossary English Editorial Board and the Translation Bureau (Canada).
4. It is thereby important to draw a distinction between two notions pertaining to “bias”: an epidemiological concept of bias, viewed as the lack of internal validity of an observational study; and a medical concept of bias, defined as deviation from the truth. The former concerns the design and methodology of epidemiological studies; the latter is more general and impels epidemiologists and physicians to be skeptical, and even critical, towards their own inferences.
It is important also to distinguish a systematic error, such as bias, from that of random error. Random error occurs due to the natural fluctuation in the accuracy of any measurement device, the innate differences between humans (both investigators and subjects), and by pure chance. Random errors can occur at any point and are more difficult to control. Systematic errors, referred to as bias from here on, occur at one or multiple points during the research process, including the study design, data collection, statistical analysis, interpretation of results, and publication process.
5. Collocations:
- Adjective + noun (biais): clear, cognitive, cultural, definite, ideological, inherent, left-wing, liberal, marked, obvious, political, right-wing, strong.
- Verb + noun (biais): avoid, be free from, correct, display, eliminate, have, reduce, show.
- Bias + verb: creep in, exist.
- Prepositions: against, in favour of, towards, with, with a, without.
Compound & derived words:
- Biased, biasing, counter-bias, embias, mis-bias, overbias, unbias, unbiassable.
6. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the nonfiction book Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (2019) by Caroline Criado Pérez.
S: 1. Etymonline (last access: 5 January 2026); OED (last access: 9 January 2026); Cambridge (last access: 11 January 2026). 2. NCI (last access: 11 January 2026). 3. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=bias&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs, https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=selection+bias&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 11 January 2026). 4. SDir (5 January 2026); NCBI (5 January 2026). 5. OCD (last access: 5 January 2026); OED (last access 5 January 2026). 6. GR (last access: 5 January 2026).
SYN:
S:
CR: cohort, gender, medicine, patient, randomization.
