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 of or relating to a neutral salt in which any replaceable hydroxyl groups or hydrogen atoms have been replaced by other groups or atoms, as sodium sulfate, Na 2 SO 4 .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

The review examined "exception" appointments, whereby the normal civil service recruitment rules are bypassed.

From BBC

The process sounds normal, but when you see the characters they were portraying and the things they were doing, “Ghost Cat Anzu” becomes all the weirder and wilder — and better.

From Los Angeles Times

The causes of neurodegenerative diseases are largely mysterious, but the current thinking is that they involve inflammation, a normal function of the immune system that is usually short-lived in response to infections or wounds.

From Science Daily

They explained, “A bald cap is showing solidarity? You can just take your cap off and be ‘normal’ again.

From Salon

“This is not unique to this building — annual rent increases are normal and to be expected at Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects,” the response from management read.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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