ETYM Greek stochastikos, from stochazesthai to aim, to guess, from stochos mark or aim.
Pertaining to a sequence of random events.
Based on random occurrences. For example, a stochastic model describes a system by taking into account chance events as well as planned events.
(Statistics) Being or having a random variable.
Pertaining to random variables in statistics and their interrelations with the laws of probability.
In music, term used to describe a compositional procedure based on probability theory, where the work's inner details are left to chance (a random sequence of notes), the main outline having been fixed by the composer. Iannis Xenakis introduced this technique to 20th-century composition, relying on computers to generate specific notes, having written a program determining the overall parameters.