échantillon

Échantillon is a masculine French noun meaning “sample” or “specimen” in many contexts. It is used in statistics, quality control, marketing, and music. The plural is échantillons.

In statistics and research, an échantillon is a subset of individuals or observations drawn from a larger population, chosen to estimate characteristics of the population. Methods include random sampling, stratified sampling, and cluster sampling. The quality of inferences depends on representativeness and sample size; sampling error and bias are considerations.

In industry and commerce, an échantillon is a physical example of a product used to test, demonstrate, or advertise it. In quality control, samples are inspected to assess conformity to standards, sometimes using predefined acceptance criteria.

In music and media, an audio échantillon is a short excerpt of sound used in composition or production, often protected by copyright and licensing; the term also appears in software or digital media to refer to data samples.

In biology, ecology, and fieldwork, researchers collect échantillons of material or organisms as specimens for analysis, classification, or preservation. The word thus covers both tangible objects and abstract subsets drawn from larger sets.