arbitrary

English

WOTD – 4 December 2006

Etymology

From Middle English arbitrarie, Latin arbitrarius (“arbitrary, uncertain”), from arbiter (“witness, on-looker, listener, judge, overseer”)

Pronunciation

Adjective

arbitrary (comparative more arbitrary, superlative most arbitrary)

  1. (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. In fact, electrons flow in the opposite direction to conventional current.
    The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary, as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives.
  2. Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
    "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." (Max Born, Letters to Einstein)
    • Frank Gelett Burgess
      The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary.
  3. (mathematics) Any, out of all that are possible.
    The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.
  4. Determined by independent arbiter.
  5. (linguistics) Not representative or symbolic; not iconic.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

arbitrary (plural arbitraries)

  1. Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.

Further reading

  • arbitrary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • arbitrary in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
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