normal

¹

[ nawr-muhl ]

adjective

1. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2. serving to establish a standard.
3. Psychology.
   1. approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.
   2. free from any mental disorder; sane.
4. Biology, Medicine/Medical.
   1. free from any infection or other form of disease or malformation, or from experimental therapy or manipulation.
   2. of natural occurrence.
5. Mathematics.
   1. being at right angles, as a line; perpendicular.
   2. of the nature of or relating to a mathematical normal.
   3. (of an orthogonal system of real functions) defined so that the integral of the square of the absolute value of any function is 1.
   4. (of a topological space) having the property that corresponding to every pair of disjoint closed sets are two disjoint open sets, each containing one of the closed sets.
   5. (of a set) having the property that the same set results when all the elements of the set are operated on consistently on the left and consistently on the right by any element of the set; invariant.
6. Chemistry.
   1. (of a solution) containing one equivalent weight of the constituent in question in one liter of solution.
   2. relating to an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a straight unbranched carbon chain, each carbon atom of which is joined to no more than two other carbon atoms.
   3. of or relating to a neutral salt in which any replaceable hydroxyl groups or hydrogen atoms have been replaced by other groups or atoms, as sodium sulfate, Na 2 SO 4 .

noun

1. the standard or the common type.
2. the usual state, amount, level, etc., especially the average or mean:

   Production may fall below normal.

3. Mathematics.
   1. a perpendicular line or plane, especially one perpendicular to a tangent line of a curve, or a tangent plane of a surface, at the point of contact.
   2. the portion of this perpendicular line included between its point of contact with the curve and the x- axis.

Normal

²

[ nawr-muhl ]

noun

1. a city in central Illinois.

normal

/ nɔːˈmælɪtɪ; ˈnɔːməl /

adjective

1. usual; regular; common; typical

   the normal level

   the normal way of doing it

2. constituting a standard

   if we take this as normal

3. psychol
   1. being within certain limits of intelligence, educational success or ability, etc
   2. conforming to the conventions of one's group
4. biology med (of laboratory animals) maintained in a natural state for purposes of comparison with animals treated with drugs, etc
5. chem (of a solution) containing a number of grams equal to the equivalent weight of the solute in each litre of solvent N
6. chem denoting a straight-chain hydrocarbon: a normal alkane . Prefix: n-, e.g. n- octane
7. geometry another word for perpendicular

noun

1. the usual, average, or typical state, degree, form, etc
2. anything that is normal
3. geometry a line or plane perpendicular to another line or plane or to the tangent of a curved line or plane at the point of contact

Derived Forms

• normality, noun

Other Words From

• nor·mal·i·ty [nawr-, mal, -i-tee] noun plural normalities
• nor·mal·ness noun
• an·ti·nor·mal adjective
• half-nor·mal adjective
• hy·per·nor·mal adjective
• non·nor·mal adjective
• o·ver·nor·mal adjective
• qua·si-nor·mal adjective
• qua·si-nor·mal·ly adverb
• sem·i·nor·mal adjective
• sem·i·nor·mal·ly adverb
• un·nor·mal adjective
• un·nor·mal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of normal¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin normālis “made according to a carpenter's square,” equivalent to norm(a) ( norm ) + -ālis adjective suffix; -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of normal¹

C16: from Latin normālis conforming to the carpenter's square, from norma norm

Example Sentences

Before she left, Helen says she was given cash which, at the time, she thought was a normal severance procedure - now she thinks it was to keep her quiet.

From BBC

For many boarding school students, corporal punishment was regarded as "normal", former Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga, who was attending the camp the night Guide died, said in his 2015 autobiography.

From BBC

“Give her some time to digest. This is normal.”

From Los Angeles Times

“When you grow up in a place with that history, it’s your normal,” said Petticrew, in a Zoom call with Doupe, their co-star.

From Los Angeles Times

“Americans want to wake up in a normal country again,” Roberts began, likely euphemistically referring to Project 2025’s plan to all but erase federal protections and anti-discrimination measures based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

From Salon

Related Words

• natural
• orderly
• ordinary
• regular
• routine
• traditional
• typical