Etym. (adj.) 1660s, “pertaining to conjecture,” from Greek stokhastikos “able to guess, conjecturing,” from stokhos “a guess, aim, target, mark,” literally “pointed stick set up for archers to shoot at;” the sense of “randomly determined” is from 1934, from German stochastik (1917).
Definition
Pertaining to a process, model, or variable whose outcome, result, or value depends on chance (Department of Defense Modeling and Simulation Glossary).
Contrast with: DETERMINISTIC