average

[ av-er-ij, av-rij ]
See synonyms for: averageaveragingaveragelyaverageness on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a quantity, rating, or the like that represents or approximates an arithmetic mean: Her golf average is in the 90s. My average in science has gone from B to C this semester.

  2. a typical amount, rate, degree, etc.; norm.

  1. Statistics. arithmetic mean.

  2. Mathematics. a quantity intermediate to a set of quantities.

  3. Commerce.

    • a charge paid by the master of a ship for such services as pilotage or towage.

    • an expense, partial loss, or damage to a ship or cargo.

    • the incidence of such an expense or loss to the owners or their insurers.

    • an equitable apportionment among all the interested parties of such an expense or loss.: Compare general average, particular average.

adjective
  1. of or relating to an average; estimated by average; forming an average: The average rainfall there is 180 inches.

  2. typical; common; ordinary: The average secretary couldn't handle such a workload. His grades were nothing special, only average.

verb (used with object),av·er·aged, av·er·ag·ing.
  1. to find an average value for (a variable quantity); reduce to a mean: We averaged the price of milk in five neighborhood stores.

  2. (of a variable quantity) to have as its arithmetic mean: Wheat averages 56 pounds to a bushel.

  1. to do or have on the average: He averages seven hours of sleep a night.

verb (used without object),av·er·aged, av·er·ag·ing.
  1. to have or show an average: to average as expected.

Verb Phrases
  1. average down, to purchase more of a security or commodity at a lower price to reduce the average cost of one's holdings.

  2. average out,

    • to come out of a security or commodity transaction with a profit or without a loss.

    • to reach an average or other figure: His taxes should average out to about a fifth of his income.

  1. average up, to purchase more of a security or commodity at a higher price to take advantage of a contemplated further rise in prices.

Idioms about average

  1. on the / an average, usually; typically: She can read 50 pages an hour, on the average.

Origin of average

1
First recorded in 1485–95; earlier averay “charge on goods shipped,” originally, “duty” (with -age replacing -ay), from Middle French avarie, from Old Italian avaria, of disputed origin; perhaps from Arabic ʿawārīyah “damaged merchandise” (from ʿawār “blemish, fault, flaw”) or akin to Old French aveir, avoir “goods, property” (see avoirdupois )

Other words from average

  • av·er·age·a·ble, adjective
  • av·er·age·ly, adverb
  • av·er·age·ness, noun
  • sub·av·er·age, adjective
  • sub·av·er·age·ly, adverb
  • su·per·av·er·age, adjective
  • su·per·av·er·age·ness, noun
  • un·av·er·aged, adjective
  • un·der·av·er·age, adjective
  • well-av·er·aged, adjective

Words Nearby average

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use average in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for average

average

/ (ˈævərɪdʒ, ˈævrɪdʒ) /


noun
  1. the typical or normal amount, quality, degree, etc: above average in intelligence

  2. Also called: arithmetic mean the result obtained by adding the numbers or quantities in a set and dividing the total by the number of members in the set: the average of 3, 4, and 8 is 5

  1. (of a continuously variable ratio, such as speed) the quotient of the differences between the initial and final values of the two quantities that make up the ratio: his average over the journey was 30 miles per hour

  2. maritime law

    • a loss incurred or damage suffered by a ship or its cargo at sea

    • the equitable apportionment of such loss among the interested parties

  3. (often plural) stock exchange a simple or weighted average of the prices of a selected group of securities computed in order to facilitate market comparisons

  4. on average, on the average or on an average usually; typically: on average, he goes twice a week

adjective
  1. usual or typical

  2. mediocre or inferior: his performance was only average

  1. constituting a numerical average: the average age; an average speed

  2. approximately typical of a range of values: the average contents of a matchbox

verb
  1. (tr) to obtain or estimate a numerical average of

  2. (tr) to assess the general quality of

  1. (tr) to perform or receive a typical number of: to average eight hours' work a day

  2. (tr) to divide up proportionately: they averaged the profits among the staff

  3. (tr) to amount to or be on average: the children averaged 15 years of age

  4. (intr) stock exchange to purchase additional securities in a holding whose price has fallen (average down) or risen (average up) in anticipation of a speculative profit after further increases in price

Origin of average

1
C15 averay loss arising from damage to ships or cargoes (shared equitably among all concerned, hence the modern sense), from Old Italian avaria, ultimately from Arabic awār damage, blemish

Derived forms of average

  • averagely, adverb
  • averageness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for average

average

[ ăvər-ĭj ]


  1. A number, especially the arithmetic mean, that is derived from and considered typical or representative of a set of numbers. Compare arithmetic mean median mode.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for average

average

A single number that represents a set of numbers. Means, medians, and modes are kinds of averages; usually, however, the term average refers to a mean.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.