average

average

average, number used to represent or characterize a group of numbers. The most common type of average is the arithmetic mean. See median; mode.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

average

see MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Average

 

in maritime law. (1) General average—property damage caused intentionally to a ship or its cargo to avoid danger to both or to forestall losses (for instance, the jettison of cargo or of ship provisions to lighten the ship in trying to get off a sandbank). The USSR Trade Navigation Code defines general average as losses suffered as a consequence of intentional and reasonable emergency expenditures and sacrifices to save a ship or its cargo from danger. The losses incurred in the case of general average are distributed proportionally according to the value of the ship, freight, and heavy loads.

(2) Particular average—unintentional damage caused to a ship or its cargo or in connection with their movement; the losses in the case of particular average are borne by those who suffered them or by those who are responsible for having caused them.

In Soviet legislation questions relating to general and particular average are regulated by the USSR Trade Navigation Code. In international trade, relations arising out of general average are regulated by the York-Antwerp Rules (the 1950 edition). These rules are applied only according to an agreement between the parties included in their contract of affreightment.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

average

[′av·rij]

(mathematics)

arithmetic mean

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

average

1. the result obtained by adding the numbers or quantities in a set and dividing the total by the number of members in the set

2. (of a continuously variable ratio, such as speed) the quotient of the differences between the initial and final values of the two quantities that make up the ratio

3. Maritime law

a. a loss incurred or damage suffered by a ship or its cargo at sea

b. the equitable apportionment of such loss among the interested parties

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005