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
    • Homophone: randem

    Noun

    random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)

    1. (now only in the phrase at random) 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
      • 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
        they were messengers unto King Ban and Bors sent from King Arthur. Therefore, said the eight knights, ye shall die or be prisoners, for we be knights of King Claudas. And therewith two of them dressed their spears, and Ulfius and Brastias dressed their spears, and ran together with great random.
      • 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.
    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.]
      • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 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 […]
    4. (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.
      • 2026 May 22, Michael Hogan, “‘The days I had to have sex with randoms, I thought thank God!’ Jamie Bell on eye-popping drama Half Man”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        ‘The days I had to have sex with randoms, I thought thank God!’ Jamie Bell on eye-popping drama Half Man [title]
        (Can we archive this URL?)
    5. (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
    6. (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.
      • 1935, Newspaper World, numbers 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, number 2, page 502:
        Printers' frames and randoms

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Adjective

    random (comparative more random, superlative most random)

    1. Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.
      Synonym: desultory
      Our city is plagued by random acts of violence.
      random acts of kindness
      • 2026 September 22, Isaac Ashe, “Man who killed 82-year-old in random attack sentenced”, in BBC News‎[2], retrieved 22 September 2026:
        A killer who stabbed a granddad to death on his front garden in a random attack while under a delusion he was a paedophile has been given a hospital order.
    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
      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.
      A toss of a loaded die is still random, though biased.
      • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[3]
        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.
      The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
    5. (informal) Selected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.
      A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
      You're just going to trust the word of random people on the Internet?
      I didn't have time to peruse the resturant's menu, so I just ordered some random dish.
      Whatever random hobby you're into, there's an Internet community for it.
    6. (informal) Being (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.
      My notebook has turned into a random collection of thoughts.
      I brought a bunch of random snacks, but nothing nutritious.
      I mixed a bunch of random vegetables into a salad, and it actually turned out pretty good.
    8. (informal) Apropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.
      This random guy just came up to me to say that he was a fan of my work.
      Thank you for that completely random comment... now, let's get back to our actual topic of discussion.
      The teacher's bartending story was interesting, but very random.
      I feel like pineapple is a very random thing to put on a pizza.
    10. (informal) Of a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
      You're so random! I never know what you're going to do next.
    11. (UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.
      That's a rather random fact!
      I can't believe he would say that. That's so random!

    Derived terms

    terms derived from random (adjective)

    Descendants

    • → Armenian: ռանդոմ (ṙandom)
    • → French: random
    • → German: random
    • → Hungarian: random
    • → Polish: random
    • → Russian: рандо́м (randóm)
    • → Spanish: random
    • → Turkish: random
    • → Vietnamese: random

    Translations

    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

    Verb

    random (third-person singular simple present randoms, present participle randoming, simple past and past participle randomed)

    1. (intransitive, now uncommon) To wander; to stray; to meander.

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    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)
        Synonym: lambda

      Noun

      random m or f (plural randoms)

      1. (colloquial, chiefly youth slang) random person; random guy, rando
        Synonym: lambda
        un random sur internet ― a rando on the Internet

      German

      Etymology

      Unadapted borrowing from English random.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      random (indeclinable) (colloquial, chiefly youth slang)

      1. random (selected for no particular reason)
        Synonym: beliebig
        • 2022 November 28, Carolina Schwarz, “Social-Media-App BeReal: Solange es noch schön ist”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎[4], Berlin: taz, die tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft eG, →ISSN:
          Das Prinzip ist simpel: Einmal am Tag zu einer random Uhrzeit erscheint bei allen Nutzer*innen eine Pushnachricht, dazu startet ein Zweiminutencountdown.
          (please add an English translation of this quotation)
        • 2023 January 29, Michael Brake, “Auf der Grünen Woche in Berlin: Im Sog der Häppchen”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎[5], Berlin: taz, die tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft eG, →ISSN:
          Manche Länder haben dabei einen zentralen Auftritt, andere ein Sammelsurium aus vielen Einzelanbietern; es sind aber ohnehin nicht alle Länder da, nicht einmal alle Bundesländer. Es ist letztlich ziemlich random, beliebig, was hier geboten wird.
          (please add an English translation of this quotation)
      2. random (apropos of nothing, lacking context)
      3. random (often saying random things)

      Further reading

      Hungarian

      Etymology

      Orthographic borrowing from English random.[1]

      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

      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

      1. ^ István Tótfalusi (2005), Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára [A Storehouse of Foreign Words: An Explanatory and Etymological Dictionary of Foreign Words], Budapest: Tinta, →ISBN

      Polish

      Pronunciation

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

      Etymology 1

      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-
      Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-der.
      Proto-Germanic *rinnaną
      Proto-West Germanic *rinnan
      Frankish *randijubor.
      Old French randirder.
      Old French randonbor.
      Middle English randoun
      English randon
      English randombor.
      Polish random

        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
        Declension of random
        singular plural
        nominative random randomowie, randomy1
        genitive randoma randomów
        dative randomowi randomom
        accusative randoma randomów
        instrumental randomem randomami
        locative randomie randomach
        vocative randomie randomowie

        1Deprecative.

        adjectives
        adverbs
        • randomowo

        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[6] (in Polish)
          • random at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

          Portuguese

          Etymology

          Etymology tree
          Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-
          Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-der.
          Proto-Germanic *rinnaną
          Proto-West Germanic *rinnan
          Frankish *randijubor.
          Old French randirder.
          Old French randonbor.
          Middle English randoun
          English randon
          English randomubor.
          Portuguese random

            Unadapted borrowing from English random.

            Pronunciation

             
            • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈʁɐ̃.dõ/ [ˈhɐ̃.dõ]

            • Rhymes: -ɐ̃dõ
            • Hyphenation: ran‧dom

            Adjective

            random m or f (plural randoms)

            1. (Internet slang) random; aleatory
              Synonym: aleatório

            Noun

            random m or f by sense (plural randoms)

            1. (Internet slang, usually derogatory) rando (random person)
              • 2017 November 17, Gabriel Olveira, quoting Gabriel "Revolta" Henud, “Jovens do Rio se destacam como profissionais no mundo dos games”, in O Globo‎[7], Rio de Janeiro, archived from the original on 18 November 2017:
                A sensação de receber esse prêmio é maravilhosa, pois eu sempre fiquei à sombra do Revolta, e mostrei com dedicação que um "random" (termo usado para jogadores pouco conhecidos) pode, sim, ter bons resultados — disse.
                (please add an English translation of this quotation)

            Spanish

            Alternative forms

            Etymology

            Etymology tree
            Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-
            Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-der.
            Proto-Germanic *rinnaną
            Proto-West Germanic *rinnan
            Frankish *randijubor.
            Old French randirder.
            Old French randonbor.
            Middle English randoun
            English randon
            English randomubor.
            Spanish random

              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. (colloquial) random
                Synonyms: aleatorio, al azar, estocástico
                1. (colloquial) random (elected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified)

              Noun

              random m or f (plural randoms)

              1. (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.

              Derived terms

              References

              Turkish

              Etymology

              Etymology tree
              Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-
              Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-der.
              Proto-Germanic *rinnaną
              Proto-West Germanic *rinnan
              Frankish *randijubor.
              Old French randirder.
              Old French randonbor.
              Middle English randoun
              English randon
              English randombor.
              Turkish random

                Borrowed from English random.

                Pronunciation

                • IPA(key): /ˈɾan.dom/
                • (imitating English) IPA(key): /ˈɾendɯm/, [ˈɾæn-]
                • Hyphenation: ran‧dom

                Adverb

                random

                1. (Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) randomly
                  Synonym: rastgele

                Adjective

                random

                1. (Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) random
                  Synonym: rastgele
                  random bir adam ― a random person

                Noun

                random (definite accusative randomu, plural randomlar)

                1. (Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) any word made by randomly pressing keys on a keyboard, usually used to show a person laughing
                2. (by extension) gibberish

                Derived terms

                • random atmak

                Further reading

                Vietnamese

                Etymology

                Borrowed from English random.

                Pronunciation

                • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [zaːn˧˧ ʔɗɔm˧˧]
                • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʐaːŋ˧˧ ʔɗɔm˧˧]
                • (Saigon) IPA(key): [ɹaːŋ˧˧ ʔɗɔm˧˧]
                • Phonetic spelling: ran đom

                Adverb

                random

                1. randomly
                  Synonym: ngẫu nhiên
                  Chọn random ba món quà.
                  To choose three gifts randomly.

                Adjective

                random

                1. random (unpredictable outcome)
                  Synonym: ngẫu nhiên
                  quà random ― random gifts

                Verb

                random

                1. to do something randomly
                  Nếu chưa biết ăn món gì thì cứ random thôi.
                  If you haven't known what to eat, just choose randomly.
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