When the term bias was first introduced in the English language during the early-to-mid sixteenth century, it initially referred to diagonal lines or hypotenuses. Around 1560, it took on a specific meaning in lawn bowls as a type of ball that was unevenly weighted, causing it to veer off to one side when thrown. Within a few decades, the word evolved to its modern definition of “prejudiced belief” and surpassed its previous interpretations. The term bias was borrowed from the French word biais, which meant “slope” or “slant”. Its origins can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root sker, meaning “to cut”, through Occitan. The earliest documented usage of bias in a statistical context dates back to 1900, and according to Google NGram Viewer, its literary usage peaked in 1995.
