at random

ran·dom

(răn′dəm)

adj.1. Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective:

random movements.

See Synonyms at

Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective:See Synonyms at chance

2. Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.

3. Of or relating to an event in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.

Idiom: at random

Without a governing design, method, or purpose; unsystematically:

chose a card at random from the deck.

[From

at random

, by chance, at great speed, from Middle English

randon, random

, speed, violence, surge, from Old French

randon

, from

randir

, to run, probably from Frankish

*rand

, border, margin (as of a field, used as a racecourse); akin to German

Rand

, edge.]

ran′dom·ly adv.

ran′dom·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.