A.Word.A.Day--stochastic

[msesheta]

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

Jan 17, 2012

This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

This week's words
sagacity
stochastic

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

stochastic

PRONUNCIATION:

(stuh-KAS-tik)

MEANING:

adjective: Involving chance; random; probabilistic.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek stokhos (aim, target, a pointed stake for an archer to aim at). Earliest documented use: 1662.

USAGE:

"Medicine is a stochastic science -- no doctor can predict the future."
Sandeep Jauhar; When Doctors Slam the Door; The New York Times; Mar 16, 2003.

Explore "stochastic" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There are two kinds of light -- the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures. -James Thurber, writer and cartoonist (1894-1961)




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