extrapolate

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰsteros Proto-Italic *eksteros Latin exter Latin extrā English extra- English (inter)polate English extrapolate From extra- + (inter)polate.

1. To infer by extending known information.

   “With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]”

2. To estimate the value of a variable outside a known range from values within that range by assuming that the estimated value follows logically from the known ones