random

English Online Dictionary. What means random‎? What does random mean?

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/
• Rhymes: -ændəm

Noun

random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)

1. A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
2. (obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force. [14th–17th c.]

   Synonyms: force, momentum, speed, velocity
3. (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.]
4. (figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence. [from 20th c.]

   Synonyms: rando, nobody, nonentity

5. (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
6. (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.

Derived terms

• randy

Translations

Adjective

random (comparative more random, superlative most random)

1. Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.

2. (statistics) 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.

   Near-synonyms: aleatory, stochastic

   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]

     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.

3. (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

5. (informal) Selected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.

6. (informal) Being (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.

8. (informal) Apropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.

10. (informal) Of a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.

11. (UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: random
• → Hungarian: random

Translations

Further reading

• randomness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Damron, Dorman, Madron, Mardon, Rodman, mandor, modRNA, ram-don, rodman

French

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English random.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɑ̃.dɔm/, /ʁan.dɔm/

Adjective

random (plural randoms)

1. (colloquial, chiefly youth slang) random (apropos of nothing, lacking context)

Noun

random m or f (plural randoms)

1. (colloquial, chiefly youth slang) random person; random guy, rando

   un random sur internet ― a rando on the Internet

German

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English random.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʁɛndəm/

Adjective

random (indeclinable) (colloquial, chiefly youth slang)

1. random (selected for no particular reason)

   Synonym: beliebig
2. random (apropos of nothing, lacking context)
3. random (often saying random things)

Further reading

• “random” in Duden online

Hungarian

Etymology

From English random.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɒndom]
• Hyphenation: ran‧dom
• Rhymes: -om

Adjective

random (comparative randomabb, superlative legrandomabb)

1. random

   Synonyms: véletlen, véletlenszerű

2. (informal) undistinguished, average, arbitrary, whichever, any

   Synonyms: tetszőleges, akármelyik, akármilyen, bármelyik, bármilyen

Declension

References

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈran.dɔm/
• Rhymes: -andɔm
• Syllabification: ran‧dom

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English random.

Noun

random m pers

1. (colloquial, slang) random, rando (undefined, unknown, or unimportant person; a person of no consequence)

   Z randomami z neta nie gadam. ― I don't talk to randos on the Internet.

Declension

Related terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

random m animal

1. dative plural of rand

Further reading

• random in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• random at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Spanish

Alternative forms

• rándom

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English random.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrandom/ [ˈrãn̪.d̪õm]
• Rhymes: -andom
• Syllabification: ran‧dom

Adjective

random m or f (masculine and feminine plural randoms)

1. (Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) random

   Synonyms: aleatorio, al azar, estocástico

Noun

random m or f (plural randoms)

1. (Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) random person; random guy, rando

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

References

• “random”, in Fundéu (in Spanish), 2019 June 18