A convenient term for a series of random disturbances borrowed through communication engineering, from the theory of sound. In communication theory, noise results in the possibility of a signal sent, x, being different from the signal received, y, and the latter has a probability distribution conditional upon x. If the disturbances consist of impulses at random intervals, it is sometimes known as “shot noise.”
Sources:
NIST SP 800-188
from
OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms