a measure of the association between two random variables, equal to the expected value of the product of the deviations from the mean of the two variables, and estimated by the sum of products of deviations from the sample mean for associated values of the two variables, divided by the number of sample points. Written as Cov (X, Y)
covariance in American English
(ˈkoʊˌvɛriəns; ˈkoʊˈvɛriəns)
noun
Statistics
a measure of the relationship between two variables whose values are observed at the same time; specif., the average value of the product of the two variables diminished by the product of their average values