自由度

Mandarin · pinyin zì yóu dù

Meanings

  1. (number of) degrees of freedom (physics and statistics)
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Characters in this entry

自
zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
由
yóu · cause, reason; from
度
dù · degree, system; manner; to consider
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–4 · zi4 you2 du4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

  1. flexibility
  2. (statistics) degree of freedom (any unrestricted variable in a frequency distribution)
  3. (physics) degree of freedom

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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