random

The word 'random' entered English in the 14th century from the Old French 'randon', signifying 'great speed, impetuosity, force'. This sense of uncontrolled, headlong rush evolved in English to describe actions done with this same lack of control or direction. By the 16th century, it began to acquire its modern meaning of something lacking a definite aim or pattern, a shift from physical haste to abstract unpredictability. Its specific mathematical and statistical sense, relating to equal probability, developed in the late 19th century, formalizing the concept of an absence of bias or order.

The word 'random' is a simplex loanword from Old French. Its ultimate origin is debated but is often linked to the Old French 'randon', meaning 'impetuosity, speed, violence', which itself may derive from a Frankish word related to 'rant', meaning 'a running'.