Glossary

k-Nearest neighbor

Statistical Glossary

k-Nearest neighbor:

K-nearest-neighbor (K-NN) is a machine learning predictive algorithm that relies on calculation of distances between pairs of records. The algorithm is used in classification problems where training data are available with known target values. The algorithm takes each record and assigns it the class to which the majority of its k nearest neighbors belongs. For a prediction problem, the algorithm assigns the record the average value among its k nearest neighbors.

Browse Other Glossary Entries

Test Yourself

Planning on taking an introductory statistics course, but not sure if you need to start at the beginning? Review the course description for each of our introductory statistics courses and estimate which best matches your level, then take the self test for that course. If you get all or almost all the questions correct, move on and take the next test.