Bias of an estimator

In statistics, the bias (or bias function) of an estimator is the difference between this estimator's expected value and the true value of the parameter being estimated. An estimator or decision rule with zero bias is called unbiased. Otherwise the estimator is said to be biased. In statistics, "bias" is an objective statement about a function, and while not a desired property, it is not pejorative, unlike the ordinary English use of the term "bias".