5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  random 
  adj  1:  lacking  any  definite  plan  or  order  or  purpose;  governed  by 
  or  depending  on  chance;  "a  random  choice";  "bombs  fell 
  at  random";  "random  movements"  [ant:  {nonrandom}] 
  2:  taken  haphazardly;  "a  random  choice" 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  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." 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  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}. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1995-12-05) 
 
 

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