ordinary
//ˈɔːdɪnəɹi//
Forms
- Plural
- ordinaries
- Comparative
- more ordinary
- Superlative
- most ordinary
Definitions
1.A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
- He died with pious composure and resolution. I have just seen the Ordinary that attended him.
- I […] will lay to till you come within hail […] but pray respond by the first ordinary.
2.The part of the Roman Catholic Mass that is the same every day
3.Something ordinary or regular.
- I was at the Ordinary last fair day, and there was nothing else talked of.
- 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.
- In short, Mr. Jolter could give a very good account of the stages on the road, and […] was a connoisseur in ordinaries, from twelve to five and thirty livres […].
4.A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
1.Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases.
2.Being part of the natural order of things; normal, customary, routine.
- On an ordinary day I wake up at nine o'clock, work for six hours, and then go to the gym.
- The three were now assembled in the old banqueting-hall, which, from its state of better preservation, had become their ordinary chamber.
3.Having no special characteristics or function; everyday, common, mundane; often deprecatory.
- He looked so ordinary, I never thought he'd be capable of murder.
- I live a very ordinary life most of the time, but every year I spend a week in Antarctica.
- It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
4.Bad or undesirable.(colloquial)
- Everyone started making suggestions as to what to do but they were all pretty ordinary ideas such as lighting a fire and hope someone would see the smoke and come to rescue us and so on.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2664
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
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”).