sortition

9.9

Choosing people or making decisions by drawing names from a hat

noun
/sɔrˈtɪʃən/

Formal

: sorteo

In ancient Athens, sortition was used to select officials randomly from the population.

Examples

The committee decided to use sortition to ensure a fair selection of participants for the study.
Sortition has gained popularity as a method to enhance democratic representation in modern governance.
Sortition, the thread is about being a "skeptic."

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Synonyms

draw

vssortition

115 4.1

An act of choosing someone or something by chance

is the overall practice of using such acts to decide or select

drawing lots

vssortition

4 3.6

A way to decide by chance using marked items like straws

is the broader practice of choosing people or decisions by chance

random sampling

vssortition

Specialized

1 4.0

Selecting people or items so each has an equal chance of being chosen

is the decision method using chance rather than a statistical selection process

casting lots

vssortition

Archaic

1 7.6

A way of choosing by picking small things like straws or stones so the result is random

is the general method of making choices through random procedures

lotting

vssortition

7.9

Choosing who gets something by chance, for example by drawing lots

is the accepted practice of making selections or decisions by chance

How Random

lottery

199 2.3

sortition

Formal

9.9

drawing lots

4 3.6

election

87 1.0

appointment

Formal

183 2.5

Surface Forms

sortition singular

sortitions plural

Morphology

sortition = sort (opaque) = sort + ition

Although formed from 'sort' + the noun-forming suffix '-ition', the specialized meaning 'selection by lot' is historical and not predictable from common uses of 'sort'.

Etymology

Sortition comes from the Latin root sors, which means 'lot' or 'fate' and is like a 'lottery' or a 'drawing of lots'. So sortition means choosing people or making decisions by chance instead of by vote.