When you want to strike a formal, academic, mathematical tone, pick the common word "extrapolate."

Talk about people extrapolating new information from old information: "Our guesses are extrapolated from this survey." 

Or, talk about people extrapolating old information to or into new information: "The survey data is extrapolated to the entire US population" (The Verge). "Girl Scouts probably extrapolate last year's cookie sales into goals for this year." 

You can also say that people extrapolate old information to some point in the future: "If you extrapolate your sales from this week to the end of the month, you're assuming you'll keep up the pace." 

If it's clear what new information you're extrapolating, you can just talk about people extrapolating from old information: "[The human mind] can only extrapolate from the past" (John Gardner).

If it's clear what old information you're extrapolating from, you can just talk about people extrapolating new information: "We loaded [the horses] in the same order. The names scratched into the posts no longer match the occupants, but I can extrapolate who’s who" (Sara Gruen).

And if it's clear what new information you're extrapolating and what old information you're extrapolating it from, you can just talk about people extrapolating, period: "Beware the dangers of extrapolating."

"Fraudsters stole up to $135 billion in unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic, the Government Accountability Office reported Tuesday... They flagged payments where the recipient was listed as dead, or where there were multiple 'fraud indications,' and then they extrapolated a final number." 
—Stephen Dinan, The Washington Times, 12 September 2023

"It is really only a guess, based on extrapolating from cratering rates on the Moon–that some two thousand asteroids big enough to imperil civilized existence regularly cross our orbit."
—Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, 2003

has this page helped you understand "extrapolate"?

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Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "extrapolate" without saying "infer" or "generalize."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "There are good reasons to be very careful in extrapolating from (something we know) to (something we don't know)."

Example 1: "There are good reasons to be very careful in extrapolating from someone's normal behavior to their behavior in a crisis."

Example 2: "There are good reasons to be very careful in extrapolating from modern forager societies to ancient ones."
— Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, 2011

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Eddie Izzardisms!"

Consider a quote from Eddie Izzard's delightful stand-up comedy, and decide which of three given terms you can most easily connect it to. You can see my suggested answer by scrolling to the bottom of the issue. But yours doesn't need to match mine. 

Try this one today:

"Richard The Lionheart: one of the greatest English kings we have going. Born in Oxford, fought all the fights, fought against Saladin in the third crusade, good looking, played the banjo, the David Beckham of kings, right? Revered by the English; English as English Pie. And he spoke… French."

Nonce, noncommittal, or non sequitur?

review this word:

1. In etymological and mathematical contexts, the opposite of EXTRAPOLATE is INTERPOLATE. But more generally, the opposite of EXTRAPOLATE is

A. CALCULATE: figure something out for certain.
B. IMPROVISE: figure out what to do right on the spot.
C. RECONCILE: end a disagreement and repair the relationship.

2. Richard Linklater was a kid in July 1969, watching excitedly on television, when we landed on the moon. He reflects: "That was a pretty interesting moment to have been alive, to be a kid... At the time, you extrapolate out the success and _____."

A. it makes an astronaut seem like a hero
B. it puts us on Mars by the end of the century
C. it inspires you to use science to make your country proud

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B From the game, here's a suggested answer: I'd go with non sequitur, because that last fact about the king comes right out of nowhere.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.