interpolation

In*ter`po*la"tion, n. Etym: [L. interpolatio an alteration made here and there: cf. F. interpolation.] 1. The act of introducing or inserting anything, especially that which is spurious or foreign. 2. That which is introduced or inserted, especially something foreign or spurious. Bentley wrote a letter . . . . upon the scriptural glosses in our present copies of Hesychius, which he considered interpolations from a later hand. De Quincey. 3. (Math.) Defn: The method or operation of finding from a few given terms of a series, as of numbers or observations, other intermediate terms in conformity with the law of the series.

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