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Original · left

Sample (product)

A small amount of a product given away to show what it is like.

First in use: the 1300s
Duplicate · right

Sample (statistics)

A subset of a population selected to estimate properties of the whole.

First in use: the 1890s

Sample / Sample (product) / Sample (statistics)

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Free samples vs. random samples.

Which meaning of Sample is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Sample (product) came first (the 1300s). Sample (statistics) arrived in the 1890s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Sample (product)Sample (statistics)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1300s

Sample (product)

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Duplicate · the 1890s

Sample (statistics)

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More duplicated terms

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