Sample

Old English sample, asaumple, Old French essample, example, from Latin exemplum.

Full definition of sample

(plural samples)

A part of anything taken or presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen; as, goods are often purchased by samples."I design this but for a sample of what I hope more fully to discuss." -Woodward.
(statistics) A subset of a population selected for measurement, observation or questioning, to provide statistical information about the population."...it is possible it Anglo-Saxon race might stand second to the Scandinavian countries average height if a fair sample of their population were obtained." Francis Galton et al. (1883). Final Report of the Anthropometric Committee, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 269.
(cooking) a small piece of food for tasting, typically given away for free
(business) a small piece of some goods, for determining quality, colour, etc., typically given away for free
(music) Gratuitous borrowing of easily recognised phases (or moments) from other music (or movies) in a recording, used to emphasize a particular point by implying a certain context.
(obsolete) Example; pattern.

(transitive) To make or show something similar to; to match.
(transitive) To take or to test a sample or samples of; as, to sample sugar, teas, wool, cloth.
(transitive, signal processing) To reduce a continuous signal (such as a sound wave) to a discrete signal.
(transitive) To reuse a portion of (an existing sound recording) in a new song.