Randomize vs randomise

Photo of author

Grammarist

To randomize means to arrange items in an unpredictable, unsystematic order. Randomize was coined in 1926 by taking the adjective, random, and adding the suffix -ize to form a verb. Related words are randomizes, randomized, randomizing, randomization. Randomize is the preferred North American spelling, including Canada. The North American spelling is gaining acceptance around the world.

Randomise is the preferred British spelling, related words are randomises, randomised, randomising and randomisation. Randomize and randomise are examples of a group of words that are spelled with a “z” in American or North American English and with an “s” in British English.

Examples

The simulator allows Solarczyk to randomize a kart’s setting to practice getting used to a kart he has never driven before. (The Washington Post)

After all, if the W.H.O. has declared that processed meat causes cancer, how can we ethically randomize people to eat it? (The New York Times)

Amy Hilske, greenhouse director, said statisticians came up with a way to randomize the plants within the room to minimize factors of variation. (The Daily Nebraskan)

You can randomise the pin pad on the lockscreen, which makes it much harder for someone to snoop over your shoulder at you passcode, but also makes it harder to unlock the phone. (The Guardian)

Discovery Print, the company’s printing arm, has installed a new digital print head that makes it possible to randomise parts of the paper. (The Courier)

Williams and Pockley are the only two individuals whose names are being projected in chronological order; a special computer program has been used to randomise the names from that point on. (The Canberra Times)

The researcher wrote that future blackmail attempts will likely randomize the extortion amount to thwart investigators from tracking down suspicious Bitcoin addresses as he did just by looking up transactions on the blockchain. (The Epoch Times)