Definitions for randomness
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
ran•domˈræn dəm(adj.)
occurring or done without definite aim, reason, or pattern:
random examples.
Statistics. of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.
Category: Statistics
Building Trades. (of building materials) lacking uniformity of dimensions: (of ashlar) laid without continuous courses. constructed or applied without regularity:
random shingles.
random bond.
Category: Building Trades
(adv.)Building Trades. without uniformity:
random-sized slates.
Category: Building Trades
Idioms for random:
at random,without regard to rules, schedules, etc.; haphazardly.
Category: Idiom
Origin of random:
1275–1325; ME raundon, random < OF randon, der. of randir to gallop < Gmc
ran′dom•ness(n.)
Princeton's WordNet
randomness, entropy, S(noun)
(thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity representing the amount of energy in a system that is no longer available for doing mechanical work
"entropy increases as matter and energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state of inert uniformity"
randomness, haphazardness, stochasticity, noise(noun)
the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan
Wiktionary
randomness(Noun)
The property of all possible outcomes being equally likely.
randomness(Noun)
A type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.
randomness(Noun)
A measure of the lack of purpose, logic or objectivity of an event.
There was no randomness in the teacher's selection of the class representative.
The New Hacker's Dictionary
randomness
1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance. 2. A hack or crock that depends on a complex combination of coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon which the crock depends for its accidental failure to malfunction). “This hack can output characters 40--57 by putting the character in the four-bit accumulator field of an XCT and then extracting six bits — the low 2 bits of the XCT opcode are the right thing.” “What randomness!” 3. Of people, synonymous with flakiness. The connotation is that the person so described is behaving weirdly, incompetently, or inappropriately for reasons which are (a) too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are probably as inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely to pass with time. “Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's just randomness. See if he calls back.”Despite the negative connotations of most jargon uses of this term have, it is worth noting that randomness can actually be a valuable resource, very useful for applications in cryptography and elsewhere. Computers are so thoroughly deterministic that they have a hard time generating high-quality randomness, so hackers have sometimes felt the need to built special-purpose contraptions for this purpose alone. One well-known website offers random bits generated by radioactive decay. Another derives random bits from chaotic systems in analog electronics. Originally, the latter site got its random bits by doing photometry on lava lamps. Hackers invariably found this hilarious. If you have to ask why, you'll never get it.)
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