random
English
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.
Pronunciation
- enPR: răn'dəm, IPA(key): /ˈɹændəm/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ændəm
Noun
random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)
- A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
- 1648, Robert Herrick, Hesperides, London: H. G. Clarke and Co., published 1844, page 134:
- Still take advice ; though counsels, when they fly / At random, sometimes hit most happily.
- 1815, Sir Walter Scott, The Lord of the Isles, page 216:
- O ! many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant !
-
- (obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force. [14th–17th c.]
- Synonyms: force, momentum, speed, velocity
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
- they were messagers vnto kyng Ban & Bors sent from kynge Arthur / therfor said the viij knyghtes ye shalle dye or be prysoners / for we ben knyghtes of kyng Claudas And therwith two of them dressid theire sperys / and Vlfyus and Brastias dressid theire speres and ranne to gyder with grete raundon
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1548, Edward Hall, “The triumphant reigne of Kyng Henry the VIII”, in The Union of the two noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke (Hall’s Chronicle), page 82v:
- […] for coragiouſly the two kynges newely foughte with great randon and force, they ſhewed their vigors and ſtrengthes and did ſo nobly that their coũter parties had none aduaũtage.
- (obsolete) The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range. [16th–19th c.]
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, page 144:
- Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random.
- 1644, Sir Kenelm Digby, Two Treatises, page 125:
- […] the angle at which the miſſive is to mount by ( if we will have it go to its furtheſt randome ) muſt be the half of a right one […]
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, page 144:
- (figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence. [from 20th c.]
- Synonyms: rando, nobody, nonentity
- The party was boring. It was full of randoms.
- (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
- (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.
- 1935, Newspaper World (issues 1930-1955, page 41)
- Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]
- 2002, Republic of Korea (issue 2, page 502)
- Printers' frames and randoms
- 1935, Newspaper World (issues 1930-1955, page 41)
Derived terms
- randy
Translations
obsolete: speed, full speed; impetuosity, force
|
unimportant person
|
Adjective
random (comparative more random, superlative most random)
- Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.
- Synonyms: aleatory, stochastic
- The flip of a fair coin is purely random.
- The newspaper conducted a random sample of five hundred American teenagers.
- The results of the field survey look random by several different measures.
- July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises
- Where the Joker preys on our fears of random, irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.
- (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.
- Synonym: stochastic
- A toss of loaded dice is still random, though biased.
- (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
- Synonym: pseudorandom
- The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
- (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.
- Synonyms: average, typical
- A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
- (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause, or reason.
- Synonyms: arbitrary, unexpected, unplanned
- That was a completely random comment.
- The teacher's bartending story was interesting, but random.
- The narrative takes a random course.
- (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
- You're so random!
- (UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected.
- That's a rather random fact!
Derived terms
terms derived from random (adjective)
- at random
- non-random
- pseudorandom
- randomer
- random glucose
- randomise, randomize
- randomly
- randomness
- random number
- randomosity
- semi-random, semirandom
Descendants
- → German: random
- → Hungarian: random
Translations
all outcomes being unpredictable
|
mathematics: of or relating to probability distribution
|
computing: pseudorandom
|
undistinguished, average
|
apropos of nothing
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Further reading
randomness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- Damron, Dorman, Madron, Mardon, Rodman, mandor, modRNA, ram-don, rodman
German
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English random.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʁɛndəm/
Audio (file)
Adjective
random (strong nominative masculine singular randomer, not comparable) (colloquial)
- random (selected for no particular reason)
- Synonym: beliebig
- random (apropos of nothing, lacking context)
- random (often saying random things)
Further reading
- “random” in Duden online
- “random” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Hungarian
Etymology
From English random.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈrɒndom]
- Hyphenation: ran‧dom
- Rhymes: -om
Adjective
random (comparative randomabb, superlative legrandomabb)
- random
- Synonyms: véletlen, véletlenszerű
- (informal) undistinguished, average, arbitrary, whichever, any
- Synonyms: tetszőleges, akármelyik, akármilyen, bármelyik, bármilyen
Declension
| Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | random | randomok |
| accusative | randomot | randomokat |
| dative | randomnak | randomoknak |
| instrumental | randommal | randomokkal |
| causal-final | randomért | randomokért |
| translative | randommá | randomokká |
| terminative | randomig | randomokig |
| essive-formal | randomként | randomokként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | randomban | randomokban |
| superessive | randomon | randomokon |
| adessive | randomnál | randomoknál |
| illative | randomba | randomokba |
| sublative | randomra | randomokra |
| allative | randomhoz | randomokhoz |
| elative | randomból | randomokból |
| delative | randomról | randomokról |
| ablative | randomtól | randomoktól |
| non-attributive possessive - singular | randomé | randomoké |
| non-attributive possessive - plural | randoméi | randomokéi |
References
- Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN