Definition of "random"

random

/ˈɹændəm/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural randoms
1. A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
  Quotations
  Still take advice ; though counsels, when they fly / At random, sometimes hit most happily.
  1648, Robert Herrick, Hesperides, London: H. G. Clarke and Co., published 1844, page 134
  O ! many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant !
  1815, Sir Walter Scott, The Lord of the Isles, page 216
2. (obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
  Quotations
  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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
  1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book I
  […] 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.
  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
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.
  Quotations
  Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random.
  1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 144
  […] 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 […]
  1644, Sir Kenelm Digby, Two Treatises, page 125
4. (figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.
5. (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
6. (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.
  Quotations
  Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]
  1935, Newspaper World, numbers 1930-1955, page 41
  Printers' frames and randoms
  2002, Republic of Korea, number 2, page 502
adjective
comparative more random, superlative most random
1. Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.
  Quotations
  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.
  July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises
2. (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.
3. (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
4. (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.
5. (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause, or reason.
6. (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
7. (UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.