Randomizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Changes the order of items so they appear without any predictable pattern
2. Shifts elements into a sequence determined by chance rather than by a deliberate system
3. Rearranges data or objects so that their placement is unpredictable and not fixed

Etymology: "Randomizes" is simply the third-person singular present form of "randomize," so it takes its history from that verb. "Randomize" is formed from "random" plus the suffix "-ize," meaning to make or to subject to a process. "Random" came into English from Old French "randon," meaning a rush or violent force, which in turn grew from "randir," to run fast, a word with roots in Frankish. The earliest sense was thus about speed and headlong motion, not chance. The sense of "random" as "without aim or pattern" developed later, from the idea of something going off in any direction, as with a headlong rush. The suffix "-ize," borrowed through Late Latin and Ancient Greek, lets English turn a noun or adjective into a verb meaning to make it so, which is how "randomize" came to mean to arrange things by chance.

Synonyms: varies, shuffles, mixes, distributes, arranges

Antonyms: orders, organizes, systematizes, structures, classifies