Laplacean

L1A1P3L1A1C3E1A1N1
US/ləˈplɑsiən/

adjective

Of or related to Pierre Simon Laplace; (of mathematical terms) embodying or reflecting his methods or ideas.

Scrabble 13

Meanings

nounLaplacean (plural Laplaceans)

plural Laplaceans

  1. alternativeAlternative form of Laplacian.
adjectiveLaplacean (not generally comparable, comparative more Laplacean, superlative most Laplacean)

comparative more Laplacean · superlative most Laplacean

  1. not comparableusuallyOf or related to Pierre Simon Laplace; (of mathematical terms) embodying or reflecting his methods or ideas.
    1 more example

    Laplace had owned Bayes’ rule in all but name since 1781. The formula, the method, and its masterful utilization all belong to Pierre Simon Laplace. He made probability-based statistics commonplace. By transforming a theory of gambling into practical mathematics, Laplace’s work dominated probability and statistics for a century. “In my mind,” Glenn Shafer of Rutgers University observed, “Laplace did everything, and we just read stuff back into Thomas Bayes. Laplace put it into modern terms. In a sense, everything is Laplacean.” If advancing the world’s knowledge is important, Bayes’ rule should be called Laplace’s rule or, in modern parlance, BPL for Bayes-Price-Laplace. Sadly, a half century of usage forces us to give Bayes’ name to what was really Laplace’s achievement.

    2011, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, quoting Glenn Shafer, The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 32

Origin

From Laplace + -ean, after Pierre-Simon Laplace.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Laplacean. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Laplacean

MLA

“Laplacean.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Laplacean. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Laplacean,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Laplacean.

Source: Laplacean on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.