average

noun

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.

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

Statistics. arithmetic mean.

Mathematics. a quantity intermediate to a set of quantities.

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.

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adjective

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

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

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verb (used with object)

to find an average value for (a variable quantity); reduce to a mean: We averaged the price of milk in five neighborhood stores.

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

10.

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

verb (used without object)

11.

to have or show an average: to average as expected.

Verb phrases

12.

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

13.

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.

14.

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

15.

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

Origin:
1485–95; earlier averay charge on goods shipped, orig. duty (< Middle French avarie < Old Italian avaria < Arabic ʿawārīyah damaged merchandise), with -age replacing -ay

Related forms

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To average

Collins

World English Dictionary

average (ˈævərɪdʒ, ˈævrɪdʒ)

—n
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
3.	(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
4.	maritime law
	a. a loss incurred or damage suffered by a ship or its cargo at sea
	b. the equitable apportionment of such loss among the interested parties
5.	(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
6.	on average, on the average, on an average usually; typically: on average, he goes twice a week

—*adj*
7.	usual or typical
8.	mediocre or inferior: his performance was only average
9.	constituting a numerical average: the average age; an average speed
10.	approximately typical of a range of values: the average contents of a matchbox

—vb
11.	(tr) to obtain or estimate a numerical average of
12.	(tr) to assess the general quality of
13.	(tr) to perform or receive a typical number of: to average eight hours' work a day
14.	(tr) to divide up proportionately: they averaged the profits among the staff
15.	(tr) to amount to or be on average: the children averaged 15 years of age
16.	(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

[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]

'averagely

—*adv*

averageness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

average

late 15c., "financial loss incurred through damage to goods in transit," from O.Fr. avarie "damage to ship," from It. avaria, a word from 12c. Mediterranean maritime trade. Sometimes traced to Arabic 'arwariya "damaged merchandise," but this might as easily be a borrowing of the word from the Franks.

OED suggests It. avere, O.Fr. aveir "property, goods," from L. habere "to have." Meaning shifted to "equal sharing of such loss by the interested parties." Transferred sense of "statement of a medial estimate" is first recorded 1735. The adjective is first recorded 1770; the verb is from 1769. The mathematical extension is from 1755.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

average av·er·age (āv'ər-ĭj, āv'rĭj)
n.

A number that typifies a set of numbers of which it is a function.
See arithmetic mean.
An intermediate level or degree.

adj.

Of, relating to, or constituting an average.
Being intermediate between extremes, as on a scale.

v. av·er·aged, av·er·ag·ing, av·er·ag·es

To calculate the average of.
To do or have an average of.
To distribute proportionately, as over a period of time.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

average

(āv'ər-ĭj) Pronunciation Key
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.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

average definition

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.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

average

in maritime law, loss or damage, less than total, to maritime property (a ship or its cargo), caused by the perils of the sea. An average may be particular or general. A particular average is one that is borne by the owner of the lost or damaged property (unless he was insured against the risk). A general average is one that is borne in common by the owners of all the property engaged in the venture.

Learn more about average with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences

The results are one hundred and thirty-three artists and genres connected to

average test scores.

So on average investment bankers are making six times what teachers in the city

make, and roughly what doctors are making.

The levee that divides it from the city is on average eighteen feet high.

His example was how the average joe rises to the occasion of jury duty.

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Matching Quote

"[On Harvard President Charles William Eliot's lamentation that the average Harvard graduate had fewer than two children:] That is quite enough. Harvard graduates do not always make the best fathers. Why should we be agitated over the too small families of the rich when there are so many children of the poor that are not cared for? The rich should make it their duty to raise up these children to a higher standard.... Men of the world hate to give up their tobacco, liquor, sports, clubs, their luxurious habits, their freedom from responsibility. They prefer to flock together and so women are compelled to do the same. President Eliot talks as though the young women were sitting around anxiously and aimlessly waiting for the graduates to come and get them. He would find, if he should make the proper investigation, that a class of women is being developed who are demanding a higher standard of morals in men than did those of past generations, and if they cannot get husbands who reach this standard they are making very satisfactory careers for themselves outside of marriage."

-Susan B. Anthony