Random vs Variable - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between random and variable

is that random is a roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance while variable is variable.

As an adjective random

is having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

random

English

Noun

(en noun)

A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.

* (1591-1674)

*:Counsels, when they fly / At random , sometimes hit most happily.

*Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)

*:O, many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant!

(label) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.

*: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

*(Edward Hall) (1497-1547)

*:For courageously the two kings newly fought with great random and force.

*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 .

(label) The direction of a rake-vein.

:(Raymond)

Synonyms

* force, momentum, speed, velocity * (unimportant person) nobody, nonentity

Adjective

(en adjective)

Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

The flip of a fair coin is purely random .

The newspaper conducted a random sample of five hundred American teenagers.

The results of the field survey look random by several different measures.

* July 18 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/]

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.

(mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.

A toss of loaded dice is still random , though biased.

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

The rand function generates a random number from a seed.

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

A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.

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

That was a completely random comment.

The teacher's bartending story was interesting, but random .

The narrative takes a random course.

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

You're so random !

Synonyms

* (having unpredictable outcomes) * (of or relating to probability distribution) stochastic * (pseudorandom) pseudorandom * (representative and undistinguished) average, typical * (lacking context) arbitrary, unexpected, unplanned

Derived terms

* at random * non-random * pseudorandom * randomer * randomise, randomize * randomness * random number * randomly * randomology * randomosity

Anagrams

variable

English

(wikipedia variable)

Adjective

(en adjective)

Able to vary.

variable''' winds or seasons; a '''variable quantity

Likely to vary.

* Shakespeare

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable .

Marked by diversity or difference.

(mathematics) Having no fixed quantitative value.

(biology) Tending to deviate from a normal or recognized type.

Synonyms

* (able to vary) alterable, flexible, changeable, mutable * (likely to vary) fickle, fluctuating, inconstant, shifting, unstable, unsteady * (marked by diversity or difference) varying * aberrant

Antonyms

* (able to vary) constant, invariable, immutable, unalterable, unchangeable * (likely to vary) constant, invariable, immutable, unchangeable * (marked by diversity or difference) unchanging * constant, invariable

Derived terms

* variability * variableness

Noun

(en noun)

Something that is .

Something whose value may be dictated or discovered.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke

, title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}

(mathematics) A quantity that may assume any one of a set of values.

(mathematics) A symbol representing a variable.

(programming) A named memory location in which a program can store intermediate results and from which it can read them.

(astronomy) A variable star.

(nautical) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.

(nautical, in the plural) Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts.

Synonyms

* (something that is variable) changeable * (something whose value may be dictated or discovered) parameter * variable quantity

Antonyms

* (something that is variable) constant, invariable

Hyponyms

* See also

Derived terms

* bound variable * categorical variable * continuous variable * dependent variable * discrete variable * flow variable * free variable * global variable * independent variable * instance variable * interval variable * local variable * member variable * metasyntactic variable * nominal variable * ordinal variable * ratio variable * stock variable * variable star * variably * vary

External links

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