# Differences between [joint-distribution] and [bivariate]?

I wonder if and , have been used interchangeably on Cross Validated?

• [joint-distribution] was used in 255 questions; it has an excerpt and a simple wiki.
• [bivariate] was used in 126 questions; it has a simple excerpt and no wiki.

Can they be considered synonyms? If not, would it be interesting to update the tag excerpts to emphasize what is (are) the difference(s) between them?

• At a minimum, joint-distribution strikes me as broader than bivariate, in that JD can apply to >2 variables. – gung - Reinstate Monica Sep 1 '16 at 15:16
• I don't think they're interchangeable. Bivariate is a subset of joint (that adds specific, useful information) – Glen_b Sep 1 '16 at 15:51
• When people start in statistics, they commonly work in R. But then they move on to $R^2$, and finally to $R^n$. Does that sound right? – GeoMatt22 Sep 9 '16 at 3:27
• @GeoMatt22 Snuck that pun past the censors, didn't ya? – Dilip Sarwate Sep 16 '16 at 16:54

The tag is a proper subset of .

I have updated wiki excerpts as follows:

Joint probability distribution of several random variables gives the probability that all of them simultaneously lie in a particular region.

and

Joint probability distribution of two variables.

Briefly looking at the questions, it seems that most questions in the [joint-distribution] are actually about bivariate distributions, even though many of them are not tagged with [bivariate]. Given that, we could consider mapping $\to$. I do not have strong feelings about this. What do people think?

• I want to accept your answer, the excerpts were clarified. I hope questions will be tagged more properly from now on. The synonym suggestion, which I agree, seems to not have received enough support. If this post collects more upvotes with time, we can think of (re)bringing this issue. What do you think? – Andre Silva Sep 9 '16 at 15:07
• Agreed, @AndreSilva. – amoeba Sep 9 '16 at 19:26