random definition | Dictionary.com

ran⋅dom

[ran-duh

–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.

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.

bank

3 [bangk]

–noun

1.	an arrangement of objects in a line or in tiers: a bank of seats; a bank of lights.

2.	Music. a row of keys on an organ.

3.	a row of elevator cars, as in a hotel or high-rise office building.

4.	a bench for rowers in a galley.

5.	a row or tier of oars.

6.	the group of rowers occupying one bench or rowing one oar.

Printing.

a.	(formerly) a bench on which sheets are placed as printed.

b.	Also called, especially British, random. the sloping work surface at the top of a compositor's workbench.

c.	a table or rack on which type material is stored before being made up in forms.

8.	Also called deck. Journalism. a part of a headline containing one or more lines of type, esp. a part that appears below the main part.

9.	Electricity. a number of similar devices connected to act together: a bank of transformers; a bank of resistors.

–verb (used with object)

10.	to arrange in a bank: to bank the seats; to bank the lights.

Origin:
1200–50; ME bank(e) < OF banc bench < Gmc; see bank ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To random

ran·dom (rān'dəm)

adj.

Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective: random movements. See Synonyms at chance.
Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.
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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Random

Ran"dom\, n. [OE. randon, OF. randon force, violence, rapidity, a randon, de randon, violently, suddenly, rapidly, prob. of German origin; cf. G. rand edge, border, OHG. rant shield, edge of a shield, akin to E. rand, n. See Rand, n.]

1. Force; violence. [Obs.]

For courageously the two kings newly fought with great random and force. --E. Hall.

2. A roving motion; course without definite direction; want of direction, rule, or method; hazard; chance; -- commonly used in the phrase at random, that is, without a settled point of direction; at hazard.

Counsels, when they fly At random, sometimes hit most happily. --Herrick.

O, many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the archer little meant ! --Sir W. Scott.

3. Distance to which a missile is cast; range; reach; as, the random of a rifle ball. --Sir K. Digby.

4. (Mining) The direction of a rake-vein. --Raymond.

Random

Ran"dom\, a. Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random guess.

Some random truths he can impart. --Wordsworth.

So sharp a spur to the lazy, and so strong a bridle to the random. --H. Spencer.

Random courses (Masonry), courses of unequal thickness.

Random shot, a shot not directed or aimed toward any particular object, or a shot with the muzzle of the gun much elevated.

Random work (Masonry), stonework consisting of stones of unequal sizes fitted together, but not in courses nor always with flat beds.

Language Translation for : random

Spanish: aleatorio, casual; sin orden,

German: zufällig,

Japanese: 手当りしだいの

More Translations »

random

adj.
1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical definition); weird. "The system's been behaving pretty randomly."
2. Assorted; undistinguished. "Who was at the conference?" "Just a bunch of random business types."
3. (pejorative) Frivolous; unproductive; undirected. "He's just a random loser."
4. Incoherent or inelegant; poorly chosen; not well organized. "The program has a random set of misfeatures." "That's a random name for that function." "Well, all the names were chosen pretty randomly."
5. In no particular order, though deterministic. "The I/O channels are in a pool, and when a file is opened one is chosen randomly."
6. Arbitrary. "It generates a random name for the scratch file."
7. Gratuitously wrong, i.e., poorly done and for no good apparent reason. For example, a program that handles file name defaulting in a particularly useless way, or an assembler routine that could easily have been coded using only three registers, but redundantly uses seven for values with non-overlapping lifetimes, so that no one else can invoke it without first saving four extra registers. What randomness!
8. n. A random hacker; used particularly of high-school students who soak up computer time and generally get in the way.
9. n. Anyone who is not a hacker (or, sometimes, anyone not known to the hacker speaking); the noun form of sense
2. "I went to the talk, but the audience was full of randoms asking bogus questions".
10. n. (occasional MIT usage) One who lives at Random Hall. See also J. Random, some random X.
11. [UK] Conversationally, a non sequitur or something similarly out-of-the-blue. As in: "Stop being so random!" This sense equates to `hatstand', taken from the Viz comic character "Roger Irrelevant - He's completely Hatstand."

Jargon File 4.2.0
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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.

random (rān'dəm) Pronunciation Key

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

random
1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical definition); weird. "The system's been behaving pretty randomly."
2. Assorted; undistinguished. "Who was at the conference?" "Just a bunch of random business types."
3. (pejorative) Frivolous; unproductive; undirected. "He's just a random loser."
4. Incoherent or inelegant; poorly chosen; not well organised. "The program has a random set of misfeatures." "That's a random name for that function." "Well, all the names were chosen pretty randomly."
5. In no particular order, though deterministic. "The I/O channels are in a pool, and when a file is opened one is chosen randomly."
6. Arbitrary. "It generates a random name for the scratch file."
7. Gratuitously wrong, i.e. poorly done and for no good apparent reason. For example, a program that handles file name defaulting in a particularly useless way, or an assembler routine that could easily have been coded using only three registers, but redundantly uses seven for values with non-overlapping lifetimes, so that no one else can invoke it without first saving four extra registers. What randomness!
8. A random hacker; used particularly of high-school students who soak up computer time and generally get in the way.
9. Anyone who is not a hacker (or, sometimes, anyone not known to the hacker speaking). "I went to the talk, but the audience was full of randoms asking bogus questions".
10. (occasional MIT usage) One who lives at Random Hall. See also J. Random, some random X.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-12-05)

random

see at random.

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