intercorrelation
UK[ˌɪn.tə.kɒr.əˈleɪ.ʃən]US[ˌɪn.t̬ɚ.kɔːr.əˈleɪ.ʃən]
n
The mutual or reciprocal relationship between two or more things, especially as measured by statistical correlation.
Morpheme Breakdown
inter
correlation
inter
between
correlation
statistical relationship
Etymology
The word 'intercorrelation' is a modern scientific compound, primarily used in statistics and data analysis. It is built upon the established noun 'correlation', which itself originates from the Medieval Latin correlation-, from com- "together" and relatio "a bringing back". The prefix 'inter-', from Latin meaning "between" or "mutual", is attached to specify that the analysis concerns the relationships among multiple variables simultaneously, not just a single paired relationship. Thus, the term's logic moves from the ancient concept of "bringing things together into a relationship" to the specific modern statistical meaning of measuring the interconnectedness within a set of data points.
Analysis
Structure: inter (between) + correlation (statistical relationship)
- inter: From Latin inter, meaning "between, among". A prefix indicating reciprocal or mutual action.
- correlation: From Latin com- (together) + relatio (a bringing back, report). In modern English, it denotes a statistical measure of the extent to which two variables fluctuate together.
Examples
The researcher calculated the intercorrelation matrix to understand the relationships among all five personality traits.
A high degree of intercorrelation between the independent variables can pose a problem for the regression model.
The study examined the intercorrelation of various economic indicators over the past decade.