ordinary

[ awr-dn-er-ee ]

adjective

1. of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional:

   One novel is brilliant, the other is decidedly ordinary; an ordinary person.

   Antonyms: exceptional, unusual, extraordinary

2. plain or undistinguished:

   ordinary clothes.

3. somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre.
4. customary; usual; normal:

   We plan to do the ordinary things this weekend.

   Synonyms: accustomed, regular

5. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. common, vulgar, or disreputable.
6. (of jurisdiction) immediate, as contrasted with something that is delegated.
7. (of officials) belonging to the regular staff or the fully recognized class.

noun

, plural or·di·nar·ies.

1. the commonplace or average condition, degree, etc.:

   ability far above the ordinary.

2. something regular, customary, or usual.
3. Ecclesiastical.
   1. an order or form for divine service, especially that for saying Mass.
   2. the service of the Mass exclusive of the canon.
4. History/Historical. a member of the clergy appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death.
5. English Ecclesiastical Law. a bishop, archbishop, or other ecclesiastic or his deputy, in his capacity as an ex officio ecclesiastical authority.
6. (in some U.S. states) a judge of a court of probate.
7. British. (in a restaurant or inn) a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service.
8. a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare.
9. penny-farthing ( def ).
10. Heraldry.
    1. any of the simplest and commonest charges, usually having straight or broadly curved edges.
    2. honorable ordinary.

ordinary

/ ˈɔːdənrɪ /

adjective

1. of common or established type or occurrence
2. familiar, everyday, or unexceptional
3. uninteresting or commonplace
4. having regular or ex officio jurisdiction

   an ordinary judge

5. maths (of a differential equation) containing two variables only and derivatives of one of the variables with respect to the other

noun

1. a common or average situation, amount, or degree (esp in the phrase out of the ordinary )
2. a normal or commonplace person or thing
3. civil law a judge who exercises jurisdiction in his own right
4. usually capital an ecclesiastic, esp a bishop, holding an office to which certain jurisdictional powers are attached
5. RC Church
   1. the parts of the Mass that do not vary from day to day Compare proper
   2. a prescribed form of divine service, esp the Mass
6. the US name for penny-farthing
7. heraldry any of several conventional figures, such as the bend, the fesse, and the cross, commonly charged upon shields
8. history a clergyman who visited condemned prisoners before their death
9. obsolete.
   1. a meal provided regularly at a fixed price
   2. the inn providing such meals
10. in ordinary
    (used esp in titles) in regular service or attendance

    physician in ordinary to the sovereign

Other Words From

• or·di·nar·i·ness noun
• qua·si-or·di·nar·y adjective
• su·per·or·di·nar·y adjective
• un·or·di·nar·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinary¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ordinarie (noun and adjective), from Latin ordinārius “regular, of the usual order,” equivalent to ordin- (stem of ordō “row, regular arrangement”) + -ārius adjective suffix; order, -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinary¹

C16: (adj) and C13: (some n senses): ultimately from Latin ordinārius orderly, from ordō order

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in ordinary, in regular service:

   a physician in ordinary to the king.

2. out of the ordinary,
   1. exceptional; unusual:

      Having triplets is certainly out of the ordinary.

   2. exceptionally good; unusually good:

      The food at this restaurant is truly out of the ordinary.

More idioms and phrases containing ordinary

see out of the ordinary .

Synonym Study

See common.

Example Sentences

"But if Fermi saw it, we'd be able to measure its mass. We'd be able to measure its interaction strength. We'd be able to determine everything we need to know about the axion, and we'd be incredibly confident in the signal because there's no ordinary matter which could create such an event."

From Science Daily

When stretched in length, an ordinary material such as rubber contracts in width.

From Science Magazine

“A central pillar of American democracy is that no man is above the law. But Mr. Trump isn’t an ordinary man,” Goldstein writes.

From Slate

Often ridiculed by parliamentary sketch writers for mangling the English language, to supporters he appeared an ordinary man facing the intellectual bullying by people with a better education.

From BBC

By contrast it has been welcomed by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and ordinary citizens in Gaza.

From BBC

Related Words

• common
• conventional
• dull
• generic
• humble
• mediocre
• normal
• plain
• simple
• unremarkable
• workaday