routine

[ roo-teen ]

noun

1. a customary or regular course of procedure.
2. commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activity:

   the routine of an office.

3. regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, or rote procedure.
4. an unvarying and constantly repeated formula, as of speech or action; convenient or predictable response:

   Don't give me that brotherly-love routine!

5. Computers.
   1. a complete set of coded instructions directing a computer to perform a series of operations.
   2. a series of operations performed by the computer.
6. an individual act, performance, or part of a performance, as a song or dance, given regularly by an entertainer:

   a comic routine; a dance routine.

adjective

1. of the nature of, proceeding by, or adhering to routine:

   routine duties.

2. dull or uninteresting; commonplace.

   Synonyms: typical, ordinary, habitual

routine

/ ruːˈtiːn /

noun

1. a usual or regular method of procedure, esp one that is unvarying
2. computing a program or part of a program performing a specific function

   an output routine

   an input routine

3. a set sequence of dance steps
4. informal.
   a hackneyed or insincere speech

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of routine

Derived Forms

• rouˈtinely, adverb

Other Words From

• rou·tine·ly adverb
• rou·tine·ness noun
• non·rou·tine adjective noun
• un·rou·tine adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of routine¹

First recorded in 1670–80; from French, derivative of route route

Word History and Origins

Origin of routine¹

C17: from Old French, from route a customary way, route

Example Sentences

Opponents argue against their routine use, and members of the Senate are historically protective of their role as a check on the executive branch.

From Los Angeles Times

Like many of the women who have told the BBC they were abused by Mohamed Al Fayed, Helen says she was spotted by him on one of his routine walks of the Harrods shop floor.

From BBC

This won't help you get tickets, but is an essential part of the annual routine.

From BBC

He and Evans never find their groove, and while Evans’ Boston-accented deadbeat cad routine is rote for him at this point, Johnson feels adrift, never locking in to a specific tone.

From Los Angeles Times

Indeed, this becomes so routine it can hardly be called suspenseful, apart from wondering if maybe the writers will send him in a different direction the next time.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• conventional
• everyday
• normal
• ordinary
• periodic
• regular
• unremarkable
• usual