Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Random \Ran"dom\, a.
   Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or
   without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without
   previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random
   guess.

         Some random truths he can impart.        --Wordsworth.

         So sharp a spur to the lazy, and so strong a bridle to
         the random.                              --H. Spencer.

   {Random courses} (Masonry), courses of unequal thickness.

   {Random shot}, a shot not directed or aimed toward any
      particular object, or a shot with the muzzle of the gun
      much elevated.

   {Random work} (Masonry), stonework consisting of stones of
      unequal sizes fitted together, but not in courses nor
      always with flat beds.

Random \Ran"dom\, n. [OE. randon, OF. randon force, violence,
   rapidity, a randon, de randon, violently, suddenly, rapidly,
   prob. of German origin; cf. G. rand edge, border, OHG. rant
   shield, edge of a shield, akin to E. rand, n. See {Rand}, n.]
   1. Force; violence. [Obs.]

            For courageously the two kings newly fought with
            great random and force.               --E. Hall.

   2. A roving motion; course without definite direction; want
      of direction, rule, or method; hazard; chance; -- commonly
      used in the phrase at random, that is, without a settled
      point of direction; at hazard.

            Counsels, when they fly At random, sometimes hit
            most happily.                         --Herrick.

            O, many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the
            archer little meant !                 --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   3. Distance to which a missile is cast; range; reach; as, the
      random of a rifle ball. --Sir K. Digby.

   4. (Mining) The direction of a rake-vein. --Raymond.

Source : WordNet®

random
     adj 1: lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by
            or depending on chance; "a random choice"; "bombs fell
            at random"; "random movements" [ant: {nonrandom}]
     2: taken haphazardly; "a random choice"

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

random
     
        1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical definition); weird.
        "The system's been behaving pretty randomly."
     
        2. Assorted; undistinguished.  "Who was at the conference?"
        "Just a bunch of random business types."
     
        3. (pejorative) Frivolous; unproductive; undirected.  "He's
        just a random loser."
     
        4. Incoherent or inelegant; poorly chosen; not well organised.
        "The program has a random set of misfeatures."  "That's a
        random name for that function."  "Well, all the names were
        chosen pretty randomly."
     
        5. In no particular order, though {deterministic}.  "The I/O
        channels are in a pool, and when a file is opened one is
        chosen randomly."
     
        6. Arbitrary.  "It generates a random name for the scratch
        file."
     
        7. Gratuitously wrong, i.e. poorly done and for no good
        apparent reason.  For example, a program that handles file
        name defaulting in a particularly useless way, or an assembler
        routine that could easily have been coded using only three
        registers, but redundantly uses seven for values with
        non-overlapping lifetimes, so that no one else can invoke it
        without first saving four extra registers.  What {randomness}!
     
        8.  A random hacker; used particularly of high-school students
        who soak up computer time and generally get in the way.
     
        9.  Anyone who is not a hacker (or, sometimes, anyone not
        known to the hacker speaking).  "I went to the talk, but the
        audience was full of randoms asking bogus questions".
     
        10.  (occasional MIT usage) One who lives at Random Hall.  See
        also {J. Random}, {some random X}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1995-12-05)