arbitrary : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: arbitrary	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for arbitrary
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
arbitrary adj based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice; "an arbitrary decision"; "the arbitrary rule of a dictator"; "an arbitrary penalty"; "of arbitrary size and shape"; "an arbitrary choice"; "arbitrary division of the group into halves" Antonym(s): nonarbitrary, unarbitrary
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Arbitrary \Ar"bitrary\, a. [L. arbitrarius, fr. arbiter: cf. F. arbitraire. See {Arbiter}.] 1. Depending on will or discretion; not governed by any fixed rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment. It was wholly arbitrary in them to do so. --Jer. Taylor. Rank pretends to fix the value of every one, and is the most arbitrary of all things. --Landor. 2. Exercised according to one's own will or caprice, and therefore conveying a notion of a tendency to abuse the possession of power. Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused licentiousness. --Washington. 3. Despotic; absolute in power; bound by no law; harsh and unforbearing; tyrannical; as, an arbitrary prince or government. --Dryden. {Arbitrary constant}, {Arbitrary function} (Math.), a quantity of function that is introduced into the solution of a problem, and to which any value or form may at will be given, so that the solution may be made to meet special requirements. {Arbitrary quantity} (Math.), one to which any value can be assigned at pleasure.