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at random

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ran⋅dom

  [ran-duhm]
Use at random in a Sentence
–adjective
1. proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern: the random selection of numbers.
2. Statistics. of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.
3. Building Trades.
a. (of building materials) lacking uniformity of dimensions: random shingles.
b. (of ashlar) laid without continuous courses.
c. constructed or applied without regularity: random bond.
–noun
4. Chiefly British. bank 3 (def. 7b).
–adverb
5. Building Trades. without uniformity: random-sized slates.
—Idiom
6. at random, without definite aim, purpose, method, or adherence to a prior arrangement; in a haphazard way: Contestants were chosen at random from the studio audience.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME raundon, random < OF randon, deriv. of randir to gallop < Gmc

Related forms:
ran⋅dom⋅ly, adverb
ran⋅dom⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. haphazard, chance, fortuitous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ran·dom   (rān'dəm)   
adj.  

  1. Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective: random movements. See Synonyms at chance.

  2. Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.

  3. Of or relating to an event in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.


[From at random, by chance, at great speed, from Middle English randon, speed, violence, from Old French, from randir, to run, of Germanic origin.]
ran'dom·ly adv., ran'dom·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

random 
"having no definite aim or purpose," 1655, from at random (1565), "at great speed" (thus, "carelessly, haphazardly"), alteration of M.E. randon "impetuosity, speed" (c.1305), from O.Fr. randon "rush, disorder, force, impetuosity," from randir "to run fast," from Frankish *rant "a running," from P.Gmc. *randa (cf. O.H.G. rennen "to run," O.E. rinnan "to flow, to run"). In 1980s college student slang, it began to acquire a sense of "inferior, undesirable." Random access in ref. to computer memory is recorded from 1953.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
random   (rān'dəm)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. Relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.

  2. Relating to an event in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

at random

Without order or fixed purpose, haphazardly, as in Jackson Pollock dropped paints on canvas seemingly at random. Originally this phrase meant "very speedily" and "heedlessly." Shakespeare had the present usage in 1 Henry VI (5:3): "He talks at random; sure the man is mad." [Late 1500s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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