stima

Stima is an Italian noun referring to an estimate, assessment, or valuation of a quantity, value, or outcome. The verb stimare, from which the noun derives, means to estimate or appraise and is linked to Latin aestimare, meaning to value or assess. In everyday language, stima can denote a rough guess as well as a formal calculation.

In statistics and econometrics, stima denotes the value produced by an estimator for a population parameter. A stima puntuale is a point estimate, a single-number approximation of the true parameter. Related concepts include stima di massima verosimiglianza (maximum likelihood estimation) and stima bayesiana (Bayesian estimation). Distinctions are often made between the stima itself and the stimatore, the rule or method that generates the estimate. In practice, a population mean might be estimated by the sample mean as a stima puntuale.

In applied contexts, stima is widely used in finance, engineering, and management to refer to the valuation or projection of costs, revenues, risks, or asset values. Methods for obtaining a stima in these fields include market comparables, discounted cash flow analysis, and other valuation techniques. The term also appears in planning and inventory contexts, where a stima of demand or stock levels informs decisions.

In common use, fare una stima means to make an approximate calculation or educated guess about a quantity. The English equivalents are estimate or estimation, with nuances ranging from informal approximation to formal statistical inference.