aleatory

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
The word aleatory, whether used in its original and limited sense, or in its derived extension as a technical term of the civil law, was appropriate and convenient; one especially likely to be remembered by any person who had read Mr. Sumner's speech,--and everybody had read it; the secretary himself doubtless got the suggestion of determining the question "by lot" from it.

View all »
Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Dependent on chance, luck, or an uncertain outcome: an aleatory contract between an oil prospector and a landowner.
  2. adjective Of or characterized by gambling: aleatory contests.
  3. adjective Music Using or consisting of sounds to be chosen by the performer or left to chance; indeterminate: An object placed inside the piano added an aleatory element to the piece.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The word aleatory, whether used in its original and limited sense, or in its derived extension as a technical term of the civil law, was appropriate and convenient; one especially likely to be remembered by any person who had read Mr. Sumner's speech,—and everybody had read it; the secretary himself doubtless got the suggestion of determining the question "by lot" from it. —  The Memoir of John Lothrop Motley
  • As a filmmaker friend once explained to me (while we were watching another student's project, in which Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet was the soundtrack to a series of related but aleatory visual scenes): "The film is explaining how the music works". —  On An Overgrown Path
  • Our love of the aleatory, of betting our belongings, our powers, our persons even, against life, is not commonly alive in Germany. —  Germany and the Germans From an American Point of View
  • The word aleatory, whether used in its original and limited sense, or in its derived extension as a technical term of the civil law, was appropriate and convenient; one especially likely to be remembered by any person who had read Mr. Sumner's speech,--and everybody had read it; the secretary himself doubtless got the suggestion of determining the question "by lot" from it. —  PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete
  • The aleatory, whether it touch life, or fortune, or renown--whether we explore Africa or only toss for halfpence--that is what I conceive men to love best, and that is what we are seeking to exclude from men's existences. —  Lay Morals
More examples »
 

Tags

aleatory hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 336 times.

1 person has marked this word as a favorite.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin āleātōrius, from āleātor, gambler, from ālea, game of chance, die.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin aleatorius, pertaining to a gamester or to gaming, from aleator, a gamester, a player with dice, from alea, a game with dice.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈeɪləətəri/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

We are still working on calculating this word's frequency.

Recently looked up

respectable · braiding · bumble · necrotic · boondocks

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket