arbitrary vs average

arbitrary

noun
  • Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee. 

adj
  • Not representative or symbolic; not iconic. 

  • Determined by independent arbiter. 

  • Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed. 

  • Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random. 

  • Any, out of all that are possible. 

average

noun
  • The arithmetic mean. 

  • Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss. 

  • Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode. 

  • An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc. 

  • Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods. 

  • In the corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets. 

  • Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense. 

adj
  • Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category. 

  • Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor. 

  • Constituting or relating to the average. 

  • Typical. 

verb
  • To divide among a number, according to a given proportion. 

  • Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of. 

  • To compute the average of, especially the arithmetic mean. 

  • To be, generally or on average. 

How often have the words arbitrary and average occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )