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table

n. a presentation of data in an ordered arrangement of overlaid vertical columns and horizontal rows. As with a graph, the purpose of a table is to communicate information (either in words or numerical values) in a concise, space-efficient manner that can be assessed at a glance and interpreted easily. The columns have headings; the leftmost column, which usually lists the independent variable, is referred to as the stub column. The intersection of a column and a row is called a cell. Tables are often accompanied by explanatory notes. —tabular adj.

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Psychology term of the day

January 15th 2025

prescriptive grammar

prescriptive grammar

an approach to grammar in which a series of rules is used to distinguish proper from improper usage and a standard version of the language is identified and promoted (see standard language). It is often contrasted with descriptive grammar, in which the goal is to provide an accurate account of language use without specification as to correctness. Prescriptive grammarians seek to correct nonstandard forms, such as I can’t get no satisfaction, whereas descriptive grammarians seek to characterize the rule system that produces such utterances.