Wiederholbarer

Wiederholbarer is a German adjective meaning capable of being repeated under the same conditions to yield the same result. It is used in science, engineering, and quality assurance to describe measurements, tests, or processes that can be reproduced when the original setup is restored.

Etymology and usage: The word is formed from wiederholen, “to repeat,” with the suffix -bar, meaning “able to be.” In technical contexts, wiederholbar describes the property of repeatability, distinguishing it from reproducibility (reproduzierbar), which refers to achieving consistent results across different setups, operators, or environments.

Distinction from reproducibility: Wiederholbarkeit (repeatability) implies identical conditions such as the same instrument, operator, and surroundings. Reproduzierbarkeit (reproducibility) refers to consistency of results when conditions vary, for example across different equipment or laboratories. In metrology and experimental design, both concepts are used to assess measurement quality and reliability, often represented as a spectrum from highly repeatable to highly reproducible.

Domains and examples: In laboratory measurements, a result is wiederholbar if repeating the measurement with the same procedure and equipment yields the same value within uncertainty. In software testing, a test case is wiederholbar if, given the same inputs, it consistently produces the same output. In manufacturing, a process is wiederholbar when product quality remains stable across multiple runs under unchanged settings.

See also: Wiederholbarkeit (noun), Wiederholbarkeit in measurement, Reproduzierbarkeit, Determinismus.