Meanings
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1
verb
to insert words or other material into a text, especially material added later or regarded as spurious
A medieval copyist may have chosen to interpolate the explanatory sentence.
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2
verb
mathematics and computing: to estimate an intermediate value from known values on either side
The software can interpolate the temperature between two recorded measurements.
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3
verb
to introduce something between other things or into the middle of a sequence
The editor decided to interpolate a brief note between the two chapters.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Latin interpolatus, the past participle of interpolare ("to alter, refurbish, or falsify"). The textual sense developed around later insertions into manuscripts; mathematics extended the word to values inserted between known data points.