Randomising

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Making something unpredictable or arranging it in no particular order
2. Introducing chance or lack of pattern into something previously ordered or predictable
3. Causing something to lose its sequence or organization by applying random selection or distribution

Etymology: "Randomising" is the British spelling of "randomizing," the present participle and gerund of "randomise." The base word, "random," came into English in the 1500s from Middle English "randon," meaning a rushing or violent course, and it inherited the sense of a headlong dash from Old French "randir," to gallop, which in turn traces back to Frankish, a Germanic language. Its root sense of charging forward without a set path is what gives the modern idea of something unplanned. The verb is a straightforward formation. English took the suffix "-ise" from Middle French "-iser," which descends from Late Latin "-izare" and ultimately from the Ancient Greek suffix "-izein," used to form verbs meaning "to make into" or "to treat in the manner of." Joining that suffix to "random" produces a verb meaning to make something random, which is how the word is used in statistics and computing today.

Synonyms: shuffling, scrambling

Antonyms: ordering, organizing