# bias

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbaɪ.əs/ · frequency rank #5,297

## Definitions
1. Inclination towards something.
2. The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.
3. A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
4. A voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.
5. The difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.
6. In the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.
7. A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.

## Etymology
c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570).
From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century.
The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

## Easily confused with
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bs)
- **big** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-big)
- **bit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bit)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bus)
- **BID** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bid)
- **bin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bin)
- **bio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bio)
- **bra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bra)
- **bis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bis)
- **biz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-biz)
- **BTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bts)
- **boa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-boa)
- **bla** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bla)
- **bib** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bib)
- **BSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bsa)
- **BPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bpa)
- **bps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bps)
- **BLS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bls)
- **Bic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bic)
- **bim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bias-vs-bim)

## Common misspellings (5)
`bais`, `bbias`, `biass`, `bisa`, `ibas`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bias