different between incidental vs random

English

Etymology

From incident +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ns??d?nt?l/, /?ns??d?nt?l/
  • (US) IPA^(key): (nasal flap) [?ns??d?.???l], (enunciated) [?ns??d?n.t??l]

Adjective

incidental (comparative more incidental, superlative most incidental)

1. Loosely associated; existing as a byproduct, tangent, or accident; being a likely consequence.

   That character, though colorful, is incidental to the overall plot.

2. Occurring by chance
3. (physics, of radiation) Entering or approaching, prior to reflection (more frequently incident).

Synonyms

• (existing as an accident): accidental, contingent; See also Thesaurus:circumstantial
• (occurring by chance): accidental, serendipitous; See also Thesaurus:accidental

Antonyms

• (existing as an accident): inevitable, necessary, impossible; See also Thesaurus:inevitable
• (occurring by chance): inevitable, intentional; See also Thesaurus:intentional

Derived terms

• incidental expense
• incidentally
• incidental music

Related terms

• incident
• incidence

Translations

Noun

incidental (plural incidentals)

1. Minor items, not further defined. Incidental expense.

   She's costing us a lot in incidentals.

2. Something that is incidental.

Translations

Anagrams

• anticlined

Portuguese

Adjective

incidental m or f (plural incidentais, comparable)

1. incidental (existing by chance)

Romanian

Etymology

From French incidentel

Adjective

incidental m or n (feminine singular incidental?, masculine plural incidentali, feminine and neuter plural incidentale)

1. incidental

Declension

Spanish

Adjective

incidental (plural incidentales)

1. incidental (existing by chance)

English

Etymology

From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *rant, *rand (“run”, noun), from Proto-Germanic *randij?, from *rinnan? (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r?-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). See run.

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?n'd?m, IPA^(key): /??ænd?m/

Noun

random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)

1. A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
2. (obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force. [14^th-17^thc.]

   Synonyms: force, momentum, speed, velocity
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. [16^th-19^thc.]
   • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, page 144:

     Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random.
4. (figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence. [from 20^thc.]

   Synonyms: rando, nobody, nonentity

5. (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
6. (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.
   • 1935, Newspaper World (issues 1930-1955, page 41)

     Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]

   • 2002, Republic of Korea (issue 2, page 502)

     Printers' frames and randoms

Derived terms

• randy

Translations

Adjective

random (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.

   Synonym: aleatory

   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]

     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.

2. (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.

   Synonym: stochastic

3. (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

   Synonym: pseudorandom

4. (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.

   Synonyms: average, typical

5. (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause, or reason.

   Synonyms: arbitrary, unexpected, unplanned

6. (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? German: random
• ? Hungarian: random

Translations

Further reading

• randomness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Damron, Dorman, Mardon, Rodman, mandor, modRNA, ram-don, rodman

German

Etymology

English random

Pronunciation

Adjective

random (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) random

   Synonyms: beliebig, durcheinander, zufällig

Further reading

• “random” in Duden online

Hungarian

Etymology

From English random.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?r?ndom]
• Hyphenation: ran?dom
• Rhymes: -om

Adjective

random (comparative randomabb, superlative legrandomabb)

1. random

   Synonyms: véletlen, véletlenszer?

2. (informal) undistinguished, average, arbitrary, whichever, any

   Synonyms: tetsz?leges, akármelyik, akármilyen, bármelyik, bármilyen

Declension

References