different between fitful vs arbitrary

English

Etymology

From fit +? -ful.

Pronunciation

Adjective

fitful (comparative more fitful, superlative most fitful)

1. Irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.

   His breathing was fitful.

   • 1605, Shakespeare, Macbeth, act III

     […] Duncan is in his grave;

     After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 123

     The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man’s bolted door [...]

   • 2012, The Economist, The economy: Don’t say “green shoots”

     So fitful has Britain’s economy been that any good news is understandably snatched at.

Synonyms

• intermittent, spasmodic; see also Thesaurus:discontinuous

Derived terms

• fitfully
• fitfulness

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English arbitrarie, Latin arbitr?rius (“arbitrary, uncertain”), from arbiter (“witness, on-looker, listener, judge, overseer”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???.b?.t??.?i/, /???.b?.t?i/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /???.b?.t??(?).?i/

Adjective

arbitrary (comparative more arbitrary, superlative most arbitrary)

1. (usually of a decision) Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.

2. Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
   • 1937/1938, Albert Einstein, letter to Max Born

   • 1906, Gelett Burgess, Are You a Bromide?

3. (mathematics) Any, out of all that are possible.

4. Determined by independent arbiter.
5. (linguistics) Not representative or symbolic; not iconic.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

arbitrary (plural arbitraries)

1. Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.

Further reading

• arbitrary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• arbitrary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• arbitrariness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia