c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570).

From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c.

The French word is likely from Old Provençal biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius.

• (RP, America) IPA: /ˈbaɪəs/

bias

1. (countable, uncountable) Inclination towards something.

   Synonyms: predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, predilection

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 4, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC ↗, book I, page 12 ↗:

     Morality […] give[s] a bias to all their [men's] actions.

   • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 4:

     nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much

2. (countable, textiles) The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.
3. (countable, textiles) A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
4. (electronics) A voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.
5. (statistics) The difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.
6. (sports) In the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.[from 1560s]
   • 1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC ↗:

     there is a concealed bias within the spheroid

7. (South Korean idol fandom) A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.

   Hypernyms: fave

   Coordinate term: ult

   • 2015, "Top 10 Tips For Travelling To Korea", UKP Magazine, Winter 2015, page 37 ↗:

     The last thing you want is for your camera to die when you finally get that selca with your bias.

• French: préjugé, parti-pris
• German: Voreingenommenheit, Neigung, Ausrichtung, Vorliebe, Verzerrung
• Italian: pregiudizio, predisposizione, inclinazione, tendenza, predilezione, preferenza, influenza
• Portuguese: predisposição, inclinação, sugestão, pretendência, tendência, tendenciosidade, viés, distorção
• Russian: предубежде́ние
• Spanish: inclinación, predisposición, parcialidad, prejuicio, sesgo, preferencia, predilección, tendencia

• German: Bias, Vorspannung
• Italian: polarizzazione
• Russian: смеще́ние

• French: biais
• German: Verzerrung
• Italian: distorsione
• Portuguese: enviesamento
• Spanish: sesgo

bias (biases, present participle biasing; simple past and past participle biased)

1. (transitive) To place bias upon; to influence.

   Our prejudices bias our views.

2. (electronics) To give a bias to.
   • 2002, H. Dijkstra, J. Libby, [https://userweb.jlab.org/~gotra/svt/doc/overview%20of%20silicon%20detectors.pdf Overview of silicon detectors], Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 494, 86–93, p. 87.

     On the ohmic side n⁺ is implanted to provide the ohmic contact to bias the detector.

• Italian: influenzare, distorcere, condizionare, influire, orientare

bias

1. Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.

   Synonyms: biased

   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene v] ↗:

     Thou, trumpet, there’s my purſe; / Now cracke thy lungs, and ſplit thy braſen pipe: / Blow, villaine, till thy ſphered Bias cheeke / Out-ſwell the collicke of puft Aquilon: / Come, ſtretch thy cheſt, and let thy eyes ſpout bloud: / Thou bloweſt for Hector.

2. Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.

• Italian: penzolante, inclinato

• Italian: di sbieco

bias (not comparable)

1. In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally.

   to cut cloth bias

• Italian: di sbieco, diagonalmente
• Spanish: al bies, al sesgo, en diagonal

1. A taxonomic genus within the family Platysteiridae – black-and-white shrike-flycatcher.

From Ancient Greek Βίας.

1. (historical) One of the Seven Sages of Greece from Priene, living in the 6th century BC.

• Italian: Biante
• Russian: Биант

1. Surname.