random number

plural random numbers

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see random, number.
2. A number allotted randomly using suitable generator (electronic machine or as simple "generator" as die).
3. A number selected based on a uniform distribution, typically using a suitable generator (for example, rolling a die).

   A random number is a precisely defined mathematical concept in which every number should have an equal likeliness of occurrence....

   1998, Stuart Mealing, The Art and Science of Computer Animation, Intellect Books, page 208

   2 more examples

   1975, Gregory Chaitin, "Randomness and Mathematical Proof", Scientific American, (232), May 1975, pp. 47–52, reprinted in Information, Randomness & Incompleteness: Papers on Algorithmic Information Theory Tossing a coin is a classical procedure for producing a random number .... Tossing a coin 20 times can produce any one of 2²⁰ ... binary series, and each of them has exactly the same probability.

   To randomize the selection process, a random number from 1 to 50 should be used ... This could be done, for example, by using the last two digits of the serial number on a dollar bill. If those digits were 87, subtract 50, leaving 37.

   2009, Larry Rittenberg, Karla Johnstone, Audrey Gramling, Auditing: A Business Risk Approach, Cengage Learning, page 362

4. A pseudorandom number.

   The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.

   1970, Robert Coveyou (attributed)