What does the term "average" refer to in mathematics?

The term "average" in mathematics refers specifically to a measure of central tendency, and one of the most common forms of this measure is the arithmetic mean. When calculating the average, you obtain it by taking the total sum of all the numbers in a data set and dividing that sum by the number of values in that set. This process gives you an overall representative value of the data set, allowing for comparisons and insights into the data.

In contrast, the middle value of a data set is more closely associated with the median, while the highest number refers to the maximum value, and the difference between the largest and smallest numbers describes the range. Therefore, the definition of "average" as the total of all numbers divided by the count of those numbers is the most accurate representation in the context of mathematics.