incomplete

Incomplete is an adjective describing something that is not finished, not whole, or lacking essential elements. It derives from Middle English incomplet, from Latin incompletus, from in- 'not' + completus 'complete'.

In common language, “incomplete” describes tasks or forms missing components, packets of data with missing values, or situations that remain unsettled or underdeveloped.

In mathematics, an incomplete structure is one in which every Cauchy sequence converges within the space; many standard spaces are complete, such as the real numbers. The rational numbers with the usual metric form an incomplete metric space because a Cauchy sequence can converge to an irrational number not in Q.

In statistics and data analysis, incomplete data refers to datasets with missing entries; missingness can be random or systematic. Analysts use techniques such as imputation or multiple imputation to estimate missing values and reduce bias.

In genetics, incomplete dominance is a pattern of inheritance in which the phenotype of the heterozygote is intermediate between the two homozygotes, rather than resembling one parent.

In biology, incomplete metamorphosis describes certain insects whose immature stages resemble smaller versions of the adult, lacking a pupal stage.

In linguistics, incomplete sentences or fragments are structures lacking a main clause, while in information theory, incomplete information denotes data with partial knowledge about a system.