different between random vs vague

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

English

Etymology

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve??/
• IPA^(key): (Upper Midwest US) /væ?/
• Rhymes: -e??, -æ?

Adjective

vague (comparative vaguer, superlative vaguest)

1. Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
   • 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage

     Throughout the first week of his presidency, Dulles and Bissell continued to brief Kennedy on their strategy for Cuba, but the men were vague and their meetings offered little in the way of hard facts.

   inarticulate, Synonym: unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

2. Not having a precise meaning.

   Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal

3. Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.

   Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal, indistinct, obscure; see also Thesaurus:vague

4. Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.

5. Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.
   • 1962, Philip Larkin, "Toads Revisited"

     Waxed-fleshed out-patients / Still vague from accidents, / And characters in long coats / Deep in the litter-baskets […]

   Synonym: dazed

6. Lacking expression; vacant.

   Synonyms: vacant, vacuous

7. Not sharply outlined; hazy.

   Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct

8. Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
   • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI

     The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains

   Synonyms: erratic, roaming, unsettled, vagrant, vagabond

Related terms

Translations

Noun

vague (plural vagues)

1. (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
2. An indefinite expanse.
   • 1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral

     The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.

Verb

vague (third-person singular simple present vagues, present participle vaguing, simple past and past participle vagued)

1. (archaic) to wander; to roam; to stray.
   • 1603, Philemon Holland (translator), The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals

     [The soul] doth vague and wander.

2. To become vague or act in a vague manner.

Further reading

• vague in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vague in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• vague at OneLook Dictionary Search

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vagus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?va.??/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?ba.??/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?va.?e/

Adjective

vague (feminine vaga, masculine and feminine plural vagues)

1. vague

Derived terms

• vagament

Further reading

• “vague” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “vague” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “vague” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “vague” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology 1

From Middle French [Term?], from Old French vague (“movement on the surface of a liquid, ripple”), from Old Norse vágr (“sea”), from Proto-Germanic *w?gaz (“wave, storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *we??- (“to drag, carry”). Cognate with Swedish våg (“wave”), Middle Dutch waeghe, wage (“wave”), Old High German w?ge (“wave”), Old English w?g (“wave, billow, motion, flood”). More at waw, wave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va?/

Noun

vague f (plural vagues)

1. wave
   • 2014, Indila, Comme un bateau

Derived terms

• faire des vagues
• vague de chaleur
• vague de froid
• vaguelette
• vaguette

Etymology 2

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”). Possibly a doublet of gai.

Adjective

vague (plural vagues)

1. vague

Noun

vague m (plural vagues)

1. vagueness

   Synonym: distrait

Derived terms

• terrain vague
• vague à l'âme
• vaguement

Further reading

• “vague” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Verb

vague

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of vagar

Portuguese

Verb

vague

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of vagar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of vagar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of vagar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of vagar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ba?e/, [?ba.??e]

Verb

vague

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of vagar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of vagar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of vagar.