ordinary

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

English

Alternative forms

• ordinarie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/, /ˈɔːdənɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹdɪnɛ(ə)ɹi/
• Hyphenation: or‧di‧na‧ry, or‧din‧ary

Noun

ordinary (plural ordinaries)

1. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
   1. (ecclesiastical, law) A person having immediate jurisdiction in a given case of ecclesiastical law, such as the bishop within a diocese. [from 14th c.]
   2. (obsolete) A courier; someone delivering mail or post. [16th–19th c.]
      • 1819, Lord Byron, Letter, 15 May:

        I […] will lay to till you come within hail […] but pray respond by the first ordinary.

   3. (law) A judge with the authority to deal with cases himself or herself rather than by delegation. [from 17th c.]
   4. (now historical) The chaplain of Newgate prison, who prepared condemned prisoners for death. [from 17th c.]
2. Something ordinary or regular.
   1. (obsolete) Customary fare, one's regular daily allowance of food; (hence) a regular portion or allowance. [15th–19th c.]
   2. (now chiefly historical) A meal provided for a set price at an eating establishment. [from 16th c.]
      • 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 169:

        Here he recommended me to fix my board, there being an excellent ordinary daily at two o'clock, at which I might dine or not as I pleased.

   3. (now archaic, historical) A place where such meals are served; a public tavern, inn. [from 16th c.]
   5. (heraldry) One of the standard geometric designs placed across the center of a coat of arms, such as a pale or fess. [from 16th c.]
   6. An ordinary person or thing; something commonplace. [from 16th c.]
   7. (now Scotland, Ireland) The usual course of things; normal condition or health; a standard way of behaviour or action. [from 16th c.]
   9. (now historical) A penny farthing bicycle. [from 19th c.]
   10. (Christianity) A part of the Christian liturgy that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed.

       Coordinate term: proper (noun)

       1. (Catholicism) Alternative letter-case form of Ordinary (“those parts of the Mass which are consistent from day to day”)
3. A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
   1. (obsolete) A devotional manual; a book setting our rules for proper conduct. [15th–17th c.]
   2. (Christianity, especially Catholicism) A rule, or book of rules, prescribing the order of a liturgy, especially of Mass. [from 16th c.]

Translations

Adjective

ordinary (comparative more ordinary, superlative most ordinary)

1. (law, of a judge) Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases.
2. Being part of the natural order of things; normal, customary, routine.
3. Having no special characteristics or function; everyday, common, mundane; often deprecatory.
   • a. 1859, Thomas Macaulay, "Samuel Johnson," in 1871, Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay Trevelyan, editor), The Works of Lord Macaulay Complete, Volume 7, page 325,

     An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way: but much that was dull to ordinary lads was interesting to Samuel.
4. (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, informal) Bad or undesirable.
   • 1983 September 20, Bruce Stannard, Australia II Joins Our Greats, The Age, republished 2003, David Headon (editor), The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing: A 200 Year Collection, page 480,

     It was, in some ways a sad, almost pathetic sight to see this great American boat which had fought so hard throughout the cup summer, now looking very ordinary indeed.

   • 1961, Joanna White, quoted in 2005, A. James Hammerton, Alistair Thomson, Ten Pound Poms: Australia′s Invisible Migrants, page 80,

     For myself, I loved adventure and travelling. I′d already done quite a bit of travelling in Europe and — couldn′t get enough of it and whilst my marriage, at that stage, was very happy, he was very entrenched as a Londoner, Cockney, absolutely Cockney Londoner, and I could see that our future was pretty ordinary and so my hidden agenda I suppose was to drag him out to Australia and hope that both our lifestyles would improve and there would be new opportunities.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “having no special characteristics”): extraordinary, special

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• "ordinary" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 225.