Dictionary

random number

Pronunciation

Noun

random number (plural random numbers)

Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see random, number
A number allotted randomly using suitable generator (electronic machine or as simple "generator" as die).
A number selected based on a uniform distribution, typically using a suitable generator (for example, rolling a die).
- 1975, Gregory Chaitin, "Randomness and Mathematical Proof", Scientific American, (232), May 1975, pp. 47–52, reprinted in Information, Randomness & Incompleteness: Papers on Algorithmic Information Theory ↗
  Tossing a coin is a classical procedure for producing a random number .... Tossing a coin 20 times can produce any one of 2²⁰ ... binary series, and each of them has exactly the same probability.
- 1998, Stuart Mealing, The Art and Science of Computer Animation (Intellect Books) p. 208 ↗
  A random number is a precisely defined mathematical concept in which every number should have an equal likeliness of occurrence....
- 2009, Larry Rittenberg, Karla Johnstone, Audrey Gramling, Auditing: A Business Risk Approach (Cengage Learning) p. 362 ↗
  To randomize the selection process, a random number from 1 to 50 should be used ... This could be done, for example, by using the last two digits of the serial number on a dollar bill. If those digits were 87, subtract 50, leaving 37.
A pseudorandom number.
- 1970, Robert Coveyou (attributed)
  The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.

Translations

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