Rasgele

Rasgele is a Turkish-language term used to describe something chosen without a defined pattern or plan. In everyday Turkish, it translates roughly as “random” or “arbitrary.” The common standard spelling in Turkish is rastgele; rasgele appears as a nonstandard or dialectal variant in some sources or regional speech. The difference is typically orthographic rather than semantic, and modern Turkish usage generally favors rastgele.

In technical and mathematical contexts, rastgele is the preferred term. Phrases such as rastgele sayı (random number), rastgele değişken (random variable), rastgele örnekleme (random sampling), and rastgele işlemler (randomized procedures) are widely used. The concept underpins algorithms, statistics, simulations, and data analysis, where outcomes should not follow a predictable pattern. In everyday language, rasgele can convey carelessness or recklessness when used informally, though this sense is less common and increasingly regarded as nonstandard.

Etymology and historic usage are not completely clear in publicly available sources. The word is tied to a general Turkish notion of lack of order and spontaneity, and its normative form rastgele is well established in modern dictionaries and corpora. For most readers, rastgele and rasgele convey similar meanings, with rastgele representing the standard variant and rasgele appearing mainly in older texts or nonstandard contexts.