parameter of distribution

parameter of distribution [pə¦ram·əd·ər əv ‚dis·trə′byü·shən]

(mathematics)

For a fixed line on a ruled surface, a quantity whose magnitude is the limit, as a variable line on the surface approaches the fixed line, of the ratio of the minimum distance between the two lines to the angle between them; and whose sign is positive or negative according to whether the motion of the tangent plane to the surface is left- or right-handed as the point of tangency moves along the fixed line in a positive direction.