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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RAN'DOM, n.
1. A roving motion or course without direction; hence, want of direction, rule or method; hazard; chance; used in the phrase, at random, that is, without a settled point of direction; at hazard.
2. Course; motion; progression; distance of a body thrown; as the furthest random of a missile weapon.
RAN'DOM, a.
1. Done at hazard or without settled aim or purpose; left to chance; as a random blow.
2. Uttered or done without previous calculation; as a random guess.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, succession, surge, from Anglo-French randun, from Old French randir to run, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German rinnan to run — more at run Date: 1561 a haphazard course II. adjective Date: 1632 1. a. lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern b. made, done, or chosen at random <read random passages from the book> 2. a. relating to, having, or being elements or events with definite probability of occurrence <random processes> b. being or relating to a set or to an element of a set each of whose elements has equal probability of occurrence <a random sample>; also characterized by procedures designed to obtain such sets or elements <random sampling> • randomly adverb • randomness noun Synonyms: random, haphazard, casual mean determined by accident rather than design. random stresses lack of definite aim, fixed goal, or regular procedure <a random selection of books>. haphazard applies to what is done without regard for regularity or fitness or ultimate consequence <a haphazard collection of rocks>. casual suggests working or acting without deliberation, intention, or purpose <a casual collector>. III. adverb Date: 1618 in a random manner

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 made, done, etc., without method or conscious choice (random selection). 2 Statistics a with equal chances for each item. b given by a random process. 3 (of masonry) with stones of irregular size and shape. Phrases and idioms: at random without aim or purpose or principle. random-access Computing (of a memory or file) having all parts directly accessible, so that it need not read sequentially. random error Statistics an error in measurement caused by factors which vary from one measurement to another. Derivatives: randomize v.tr. (also -ise). randomization n. randomly adv. randomness n. Etymology: ME f. OF randon great speed f. randir gallop

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A random sample or method is one in which all the people or things involved have an equal chance of being chosen. The survey used a random sample of two thousand people across England and Wales... The competitors will be subject to random drug testing. ADJ: usu ADJ n • randomly ...interviews with a randomly selected sample of thirty girls aged between 13 and 18. ADV: ADV with v 2. If you describe events as random, you mean that they do not seem to follow a definite plan or pattern. ...random violence against innocent victims... ADJ: usu ADJ n • randomly ...drinks and magazines left scattered randomly around. ADV: ADV with v 3. If you choose people or things at random, you do not use any particular method, so they all have an equal chance of being chosen. We received several answers, and we picked one at random. PHRASE: PHR after v 4. If something happens at random, it happens without a definite plan or pattern. Three black people were killed by shots fired at random from a minibus. PHRASE: PHR after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Chance, casual, fortuitous, stray, wandering.

Moby Thesaurus

accidental, adventitious, adventitiously, aimless, aleatoric, aleatory, amorphous, any which way, anyhow, anywise, arbitrarily, arbitrary, around, at random, blobby, blurred, blurry, broad, by chance, capricious, casual, casually, causeless, chance, chance-medley, chancy, chaotic, confused, designless, desultory, disarticulated, discontinuous, disjunct, disordered, dispersed, disproportionate, driftless, dysteleological, erratic, erratically, fitful, foggy, formless, fortuitous, fortuitously, frivolous, fuzzy, general, gratuitous, haphazard, haphazardly, hazy, helter-skelter, hit-or-miss, ill-defined, immethodical, imprecise, inaccurate, inchoate, incidental, incidentally, incoherent, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indefinitely, indeterminable, indeterminate, indiscriminate, indiscriminately, indistinct, inexact, inexplicable, irregular, irregularly, lax, loose, meaningless, mindless, misshapen, nonspecific, nonsymmetrical, nonsystematic, nonuniform, obscure, occasional, occasionally, odd, orderless, planless, potluck, promiscuous, purposeless, random shot, randomly, senseless, serendipitous, serendipitously, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, spasmodic, sporadic, stochastic, straggling, straggly, stray, sweeping, systemless, unaccountable, unarranged, uncalculated, unclassified, unclear, undefined, undestined, undetermined, undirected, ungraded, unjoined, unmethodical, unmotivated, unordered, unorganized, unplain, unplanned, unpremeditated, unpremeditatedly, unsorted, unspecific, unspecified, unsymmetrical, unsystematic, unsystematically, ununiform, vague, veiled, wandering