everyday

English Online Dictionary. What means everyday‎? What does everyday mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English everidayes, every daies, every dayes (“everyday, daily, continual, constant”, adjective, literally “every day's”), equivalent to every +‎ day.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/

Adjective

everyday (not comparable)

1. Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions.
   • 1906, Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children, Chapter 4: The engine-burglar,

     When they had gone, Bobbie put on her everyday frock, and went down to the railway.

2. Commonplace, ordinary.
   • 2010, Malcolm Knox, The Monthly, April 2010, Issue 55, The Monthly Ptd Ltd, page 42:

     Although it is an everyday virus, there is something about influenza that inspires awe.

3. (rare) Commonplace or ordinary during daytime.

   Coordinate term: everynight

Alternative forms

• every day (obsolete)
• every-day (archaic)
• every day's

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

everyday

1. Misspelling of every day (compare everywhere, everyway, etc.).

Usage notes

When describing the frequency of an action denoted by a verb, it is considered correct to separate the individual words: every hour, every day, every week, etc.

Noun

everyday (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Literally every day in succession, or every day but Sunday. [14th–19th c.]
2. (rare) The ordinary or routine day or occasion.

Translations

References

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Everyday”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume III (D–E), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 345, column 1.