Randomisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The procedure of creating a state of unpredictability through non-systematic selection
2. The method of ensuring variability by randomly choosing items without following any predetermined order
3. The act or technique of selecting or arranging items in a way that avoids any predictable pattern

Etymology: Randomisation is a plain formation: the noun "random" with the suffix "-isation", which turns a verb ending in "-ise" into a noun for the process it names. "Random" came into English from Old French "randon", meaning speed or impetuosity, a word that drew on a Frankish root meaning to run or gallop. The sense that matters here, "without predictable pattern," developed later, so the modern meaning is far from the original sense of rushing headlong. The suffix has a longer trail. It descends from a Greek verb ending "-izein", passed into Late Latin as "-izare", and reached English through Old French. "-Ise" and its noun partner "-isation" therefore make a verb-and-noun pair that English can attach to almost any adjective, which is why "randomise" could be built from "random" so readily. The result is a word that names an action (randomising) rather than a quality, so it describes the method of producing unpredictability, not unpredictability itself.

Synonyms: randomization