Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
likelihood
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Quizzes
Equations written on blackboard
Numbers and Mathematics
Quick Facts
Or:
chance
On the Web:
Statistics LibreTexts - Likelihood (Oct. 17, 2026)
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

likelihood

mathematics
Also known as: chance
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

likelihood, In mathematics, a subjective assessment of possibility that, when assigned a numerical value on a scale between impossibility (0) and absolute certainty (1), becomes a probability (see probability theory). Thus, the numerical assignment of a probability depends on the notion of likelihood. If, for example, an experiment (e.g., a die toss) can result in six equally likely possible outcomes, the probability of each is 1/6.

This article was most recently revised and updated by William L. Hosch.