English Explanatory Dictionary

random

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
  2. Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
  3. The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.
  4. An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.
  5. The direction of a rake-vein.
  6. A frame for composing type.
adj
  1. Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.
  2. Involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability distribution; in the ideal case, involving outcomes which are equally likely.
  3. Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
  4. Selected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.
  5. Being (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.
  6. Apropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.
  7. Of a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
  8. Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.
verb
  1. To wander; to stray; to meander.

Pronunciation

răn'dəm /ˈɹændəm/ En-us-random.ogg

Word forms

random randoms more random most random randoming randomed

Etymology

From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *randiju (“a run, race”) or Old Norse rend (“a run, race”), both from Proto-Germanic *randijō, from *rinnaną (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r̥-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). Cognate with Middle Low German uprinden (“to jump up”), Danish rende (“to run”). See run.

Synonyms

vagrant force momentum speed velocity rando nobody nonentity desultory aleatory stochastic

Derived words

randy at random bi-random dynamic random access memory Fischer random chess hypergeometric random variable lolrandom non-random nonrandom non-volatile random access memory normal random variable programmed random occurrence pseudorandom quasirandom rando random access random-access random access memory random-access memory random act of kindness random camping random encounter randomer random forest random function random glucose randomicity randomisation randomise randomize randomish random-ish randomista randomity randomization randomless random-like randomlike randomly randomness random neural network random number random number generator random number god randomosity random process random sample random seed random sequence random telegraph noise random variable random walk random walker randomwise randumb resistive random access memory semi-random semirandom standard normal random variable static random access memory

Translations

Bulgarian: произволен Catalan: qualsevol Czech: průměrný Czech: náhodný Czech: neodlišitelný Esperanto: hazarda Esperanto: hazardeca Finnish: tavallinen Finnish: satunnainen French: moyen German: Durchschnitts- Hungarian: átlagos Hungarian: közönséges Hungarian: szokványos Hungarian: random Japanese: 任意の Japanese: 適当な Japanese: 平均的な Macedonian: случаен Polish: przeciętny Polish: statystyczny Russian: случа́йный Russian: пе́рвый попа́вшийся Russian: произво́льный Slovak: ktorýkoľvek Slovak: ľubovoľný Spanish: cualquiera Swedish: vanlig Thai: เฉลี่ย
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