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ordinary
8 dictionary results for: Ordinary
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
or·di·nar·y       [awr-dn-er-ee] Pronunciation Key adjective, noun, plural -nar·ies.
–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
or·di·nar·y       (ôr'dn-ěr'ē)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
ordinary

adjective
1. not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree; "ordinary everyday objects"; "ordinary decency"; "an ordinary day"; "an ordinary wine" [ant: extraordinary] 
2. lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered; "average people"; "the ordinary (or common) man in the street" [syn: average] 

noun
1. a judge of a probate court 
2. the expected or commonplace condition or situation; "not out of the ordinary" 
3. a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death 
4. an early bicycle with a very large front wheel and small back wheel 
5. (heraldry) any of several conventional figures used on shields 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

ordinary

see out of the ordinary.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
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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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ordinary

Or"di*na*ry\, a. [L. ordinarius, fr. ordo, ordinis, order: cf. F. ordinaire. See Order.]

1. According to established order; methodical; settled; regular. "The ordinary forms of law." --Addison.

2. Common; customary; usual. --Shak.

Method is not less reguisite in ordinary conversation that in writing. --Addison.

3. Of common rank, quality, or ability; not distinguished by superior excellence or beauty; hence, not distinguished in any way; commonplace; inferior; of little merit; as, men of ordinary judgment; an ordinary book.

An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way. --Macaulay.

Ordinary seaman (Naut.), one not expert or fully skilled, and hence ranking below an able seaman.

Syn: Normal; common; usual; customary.

Usage: See Normal. -- Ordinary, Common. A thing is common in which many persons share or partake; as, a common practice. A thing is ordinary when it is apt to come round in the regular common order or succession of events.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ordinary

Or"di*na*ry\, n.; pl. Ordinaries (-r[i^]z). 1. (Law) (a) (Roman Law) An officer who has original jurisdiction in his own right, and not by deputation. (b) (Eng. Law) One who has immediate jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical; an ecclesiastical judge; also, a deputy of the bishop, or a clergyman appointed to perform divine service for condemned criminals and assist in preparing them for death. (c) (Am. Law) A judicial officer, having generally the powers of a judge of probate or a surrogate.

2. The mass; the common run. [Obs.]

I see no more in you than in the ordinary Of nature's salework. --Shak.

3. That which is so common, or continued, as to be considered a settled establishment or institution. [R.]

Spain had no other wars save those which were grown into an ordinary. --Bacon.

4. Anything which is in ordinary or common use.

Water buckets, wagons, cart wheels, plow socks, and other ordinaries. --Sir W. Scott.

5. A dining room or eating house where a meal is prepared for all comers, at a fixed price for the meal, in distinction from one where each dish is separately charged; a table d'h[^o]te; hence, also, the meal furnished at such a dining room. --Shak.

All the odd words they have picked up in a coffeehouse, or a gaming ordinary, are produced as flowers of style. --Swift.

He exacted a tribute for licenses to hawkers and peddlers and to ordinaries. --Bancroft.

6. (Her.) A charge or bearing of simple form, one of nine or ten which are in constant use. The bend, chevron, chief, cross, fesse, pale, and saltire are uniformly admitted as ordinaries. Some authorities include bar, bend sinister, pile, and others. See Subordinary.

In ordinary. (a) In actual and constant service; statedly attending and serving; as, a physician or chaplain in ordinary. An ambassador in ordinary is one constantly resident at a foreign court. (b) (Naut.) Out of commission and laid up; -- said of a naval vessel.

Ordinary of the Mass (R. C. Ch.), the part of the Mass which is the same every day; -- called also the canon of the Mass.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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