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Ordinary

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Ordinary
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or⋅di⋅nar⋅y

  [awr-dn-er-ee] adjective, noun, plural -nar⋅ies.
Use Ordinary in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional: One novel is brilliant, the other is decidedly ordinary; an ordinary person.
2. plain or undistinguished: ordinary clothes.
3. somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre.
4. customary; usual; normal: We plan to do the ordinary things this weekend.
5. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. common, vulgar, or disreputable.
6. (of jurisdiction) immediate, as contrasted with something that is delegated.
7. (of officials) belonging to the regular staff or the fully recognized class.
–noun
8. the commonplace or average condition, degree, etc.: ability far above the ordinary.
9. something regular, customary, or usual.
10. Ecclesiastical.
a. an order or form for divine service, esp. that for saying Mass.
b. the service of the Mass exclusive of the canon.
11. History/Historical. a member of the clergy appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death.
12. English Ecclesiastical Law. a bishop, archbishop, or other ecclesiastic or his deputy, in his capacity as an ex officio ecclesiastical authority.
13. (in some U.S. states) a judge of a court of probate.
14. British. (in a restaurant or inn) a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service.
15. a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare.
16. a high bicycle of an early type, with one large wheel in front and one small wheel behind.
17. Heraldry.
a. any of the simplest and commonest charges, usually having straight or broadly curved edges.
b. honorable ordinary.
—Idioms
18. in ordinary, in regular service: a physician in ordinary to the king.
19. out of the ordinary,
a. exceptional; unusual: Having triplets is certainly out of the ordinary.
b. exceptionally good; unusually good: The food at this restaurant is truly out of the ordinary.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME ordinarie (n. and adj.) < L ordinārius regular, of the usual order, equiv. to ordin- (see order ) + -ārius -ary

Related forms:
or⋅di⋅nar⋅i⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
3. See common. 4. regular, accustomed.

Antonyms:
1. extraordinary, unusual.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Ordinary
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or·di·nar·y   (ôr'dn-ěr'ē)   
adj.  

  1. Commonly encountered; usual. See Synonyms at common.

    1. Of no exceptional ability, degree, or quality; average.

    2. Of inferior quality; second-rate.

  3. Having immediate rather than delegated jurisdiction, as a judge.

  4. Mathematics Designating a differential equation containing no more than one independent variable.

n.   pl. or·di·nar·ies

  1. The usual or normal condition or course of events: Nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

  2. Law

    1. A judge or other official with immediate rather than delegated jurisdiction.

    2. The judge of a probate court in some states of the United States.

    3. The part of the Mass that remains unchanged from day to day.

    4. A division of the Roman Breviary containing the unchangeable parts of the office other than the Psalms.

    5. A cleric, such as the residential bishop of a diocese, with ordinary jurisdiction over a specified territory.

    6. A complete meal provided at a fixed price.

    7. A tavern or an inn providing such a meal.

  3. often Ordinary Ecclesiastical

    1. The part of the Mass that remains unchanged from day to day.

    2. A division of the Roman Breviary containing the unchangeable parts of the office other than the Psalms.

    3. A cleric, such as the residential bishop of a diocese, with ordinary jurisdiction over a specified territory.

    4. A complete meal provided at a fixed price.

    5. A tavern or an inn providing such a meal.

  4. Heraldry One of the simplest and commonest charges, such as the bend and the cross.

  5. Chiefly British

    1. A complete meal provided at a fixed price.

    2. A tavern or an inn providing such a meal.


[Middle English ordinarie, from Old French, from Latin ōrdinārius, from ōrdō, ōrdin-, order; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]
or'di·nar'i·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ordinary  (adj.)
c.1460, "belonging to the usual order or course," from O.Fr. ordinarie, from L. ordinarius "customary, regular, usual, orderly," from ordo (gen. ordinis) "order" (see order). Various noun usages, dating to c.1380 and common until 19c., now largely extinct except in out of the ordinary (1893). In British education, Ordinary level "lowest of the three levels of General Certificate of Education" is attested from 1947 (abbrev. O level).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: or·di·nary
Function: adjective
: of a kind to be expected from the average person or in the normal course of events; broadly : of a common kind or degree ordinary proceeding> —compare EXTRAORDINARY
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

ordinary

see out of the ordinary.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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