arbitrary
English
WOTD – 4 December 2006
Etymology
From Middle English arbitrarie, Latin arbitrarius (“arbitrary, uncertain”), from arbiter (“witness, on-looker, listener, judge, overseer”)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɑː.bɪ.tɹə.ɹi/, /ˈɑː.bɪ.tɹi/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈɑɹ.bɪ.tɹɛ(ə).ɹi/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Adjective
arbitrary (comparative more arbitrary, superlative most arbitrary)
- (usually of a decision) Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.
- Benjamin Franklin's designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary.
- The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary, as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives.
- Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Max Born
- The Russian trials were Stalin's purges, with which he attempted to consolidate his power. Like most people in the West, I believed these show trials to be the arbitrary acts of a cruel dictator.
- Frank Gelett Burgess
- The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Max Born
- (mathematics) Any, out of all that are possible.
- The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.
- Determined by independent arbiter.
- (linguistics) Not representative or symbolic; not iconic.
Derived terms
- arbitrarily
- arbitrariness
- arbitrary-precision
Related terms
- arbit
- arbiter
- arbitrable
- arbitrage
- arbitrary and capricious
- arbitrate
- arbitration
- arbitrator
Translations
based on individual discretion or judgment
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unrestrained by law; tyrannical
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determined by impulse
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chosen at random
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(mathematics)
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Further reading
- arbitrary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- arbitrary in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
arbitrariness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
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