pseudoreplication

noun

The exaggeration of the statistical significance of a set of measurements resulting from treating the data as independent observations when they are in fact interdependent.

OriginEnglish replication ← Middle English pseudo- ← Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs) →
Scrabble 24
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Meanings

nounpseudoreplication (countable and uncountable, plural pseudoreplications)

plural pseudoreplications

  1. countableuncountablebiologyThe exaggeration of the statistical significance of a set of measurements resulting from treating the data as independent observations when they are in fact interdependent.

    There are two kinds of pseudoreplication: / temporal pseudoreplication, involving repeated measurements from the same individual, and / spatial pseudoreplicaiton, involving several measurements taken from the same vicinity.

    2005, Michael J. Crawley, Statistics: an introduction using R, page 13

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekψεύδω (pseúdō)
  2. Ancient Greekψευδής (pseudḗs)
  3. Middle Englishpseudo-
  4. Englishpseudo-
  5. Englishreplication
  6. Englishpseudoreplication

From pseudo- + replication.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pseudoreplication. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudoreplication

MLA

“pseudoreplication.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudoreplication. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pseudoreplication,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudoreplication.

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