atsitiktinis

Atsitiktinis is the Lithuanian adjective used to describe events or processes that occur by chance rather than through deliberate control. In statistics and probability, it denotes properties of a sample, variable, or outcome that are not predetermined but arise from random processes.

Etymology: The word stems from the verb atsitikti, meaning to happen, with the suffix -inis. It conveys that something happens by chance, as opposed to by intention.

In statistical contexts, atsitiktinis appears in terms such as atsitiktinė imtis (random sample), atsitiktinis skaičius (random number), atsitiktinis kintamasis (random variable), and atsitiktinis įvykis (random event). It is contrasted with deterministic processes, which yield predictable outcomes, whereas atsitiktinis describes phenomena with inherent variability.

In everyday language, atsitiktinis can also mean incidental or accidental, not planned. The term may be used to describe events that occur without a foreseeable cause. In technical texts, it is sometimes used interchangeably with stochastinis, and depending on context, may be linked to synonyms such as tikimybinis (probabilistic) or neplanuotas (unplanned).

See also: atsitiktinumas, tikimybių teorija, statistika, stochastika.