bias
- A tendency to favor or oppose a particular person, group, or thing in an unfair way, often without being aware of it.
- In statistics or research, a systematic error that skews results in a particular direction.
In a sentence
- The journalist was accused of showing bias toward the incumbent candidate in her reporting.
- Confirmation bias leads people to seek out information that supports what they already believe.
Usage note. 'Bias' can function as both a noun ('she has a bias') and a verb ('the results were biased by poor sampling'), and both uses are standard in modern English.
Where it comes from
English bias · entered English 16th c.
From Old French 'biais', meaning 'a slant or oblique direction', of uncertain ultimate origin though possibly from Old Provençal. The word entered English in the 16th century in the literal sense of a slanting line in cloth-cutting, and the figurative sense of a mental slant or prejudice developed shortly afterward.