ordinary

See also Ordinary

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/, /ˈɔːdənɹi/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

ordinary (comparative more ordinary, superlative most ordinary)

1. (law) Having regular jurisdiction (of a judge; now only used in certain phrases).
2. Being part of the natural order of things; normal, customary, routine.

   On an ordinary day I wake up at nine o'clock, work for six hours, and then go to the gym.

3. Having no special characteristics or function; everyday, common, mundane (often deprecatory).

   I live a very ordinary life most of the time, but every year I spend a week in Antarctica.

   He looked so ordinary, I never thought he'd be capable of murder.

4. (Australian, New Zealand) (informal) bad or undesirable.

Antonyms

• special
• extraordinary

Derived terms

• ordinariness
• ordinary number

Translations

normal, routine

Arabic: عادي (ar) (3aadiy), مؤلوف (ar) (maw'lúf) Armenian: սովորական (hy) (sovorakan), հասարակ (hy) (hasarak) Catalan: ordinari (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 普通 (zh) (pǔtōng), 平常 (zh) (píngcháng), 平凡 (zh) (píngfán) Czech: obyčejný (cs) m. Dutch: gewoon (nl) Finnish: tavallinen (fi) French: ordinaire (fr) German: gewöhnlich (de) Greek: κοινός (el), συνηθισμένος (el) Hindi: आम (hi) (ām), साधारण (hi) (sādhāraṇ) Hungarian: rendes (hu), szokásos (hu) Irish: gnáth- (ga), normálta (ga), gnách (ga) Italian: ordinario (it) m., ordinaria (it) f.

Japanese: 通常 (ja) (つうじょう tsūjō), 普通 (ja) (ふつう, futsū), 平凡 (ja) (へいぼん, heibon) Korean: 정규 (ko) (jeonggyu), 보통의 (ko) (botongui) Latin: ordinarius m., ordinaria f., ordinarium n.; cotidianus Latvian: parasts Macedonian: обичен (mk) (óbičen) m. Persian: عادی (fa) ('âdi) Polish: zwykły (pl) Portuguese: ordinário (pt) m. Russian: обыкновенный (ru) (obyknovénnyj), обычный (ru) (obýčnyj) Slovene: navaden m., običajen m. Spanish: ordinario (es) m. Swedish: vanlig (sv), ordinär (sv) Turkish: sıradan (tr), olağan (tr) Urdu: عام (ur) (ām)

Noun

ordinary (plural ordinaries)

1. (obsolete) A devotional manual.
2. (Christianity) A rule, or book of rules, prescribing the order of service, especially of Mass.
3. A person having immediate jurisdiction in a given case of ecclesiastical law, such as the bishop within a diocese.
4. (obsolete) A set portion of food, later as available for a fixed price at an inn or other eating establishment.
5. (archaic or historical) A place where such meals are served; a public tavern, inn.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.2.4:

     they would be inquiring of every carrier and passenger what they had heard or seen, what news abroad? [...] as at an ordinary with us, bakehouse, or barber's shop.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 1:

     it hath been usual with the honest and well-meaning host to provide a bill of fare which all persons may peruse at their first entrance into the house; and having thence acquainted themselves with the entertainment which they may expect, may either stay and regale with what is provided for them, or may depart to some other ordinary better accommodated to their taste.

6. (heraldry) One of the standard geometric designs placed across the center of a coat of arms, such as a pale or fess.
7. An ordinary thing or person.
8. (historical) A penny-farthing bicycle.

Translations

standard geometric design in heraldics

Finnish: airutkuvio (fi)

Macedonian: ординарија (mk) (ordinárija) f.

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: shook · fit · distribute · #946: ordinary · forms · complete · access