In
order theory, a branch of mathematics, a
semiorder is a type of ordering that may be determined for a set of items with numerical scores by declaring two items to be incomparable when their scores are within a given
margin of error of each other, and by using the numerical comparison of their scores when those scores are sufficiently far apart. Semiorders were introduced and applied in
mathematical psychology by as a model of human preference without the assumption that indifference is
transitive. They generalize
strict weak orderings, form a special case of
partial orders and
interval orders, and can be characterized among the partial orders by two forbidden four-item suborders.