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Lorenz curve

Syllabification: (Lo·renz curve)
Definition of Lorenz curve

noun

Economics
  • a graph on which the cumulative percentage of total national income (or some other variable) is plotted against the cumulative percentage of the corresponding population (ranked in increasing size of share). The extent to which the curve sags below a straight diagonal line indicates the degree of inequality of distribution.

Origin:

early 20th century: named after Max O. Lorenz, the American statistician who devised the curve

Lorenz curve in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of Lorenz curve in the British & World English dictionary