Word Study
usual
CIDE DICTIONARY
Such as is in common use; such as occurs in ordinary practice, or in the ordinary course of events; customary; ordinary; habitual; common. [1913 Webster]
"Consultation with oracles was a thing very usual and frequent in their times." [1913 Webster]
"We can make friends of these usual enemies." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
usual, adj.
1 such as commonly occurs, or is observed or done; customary, habitual (the usual formalities; it is usual to tip them; forgot my keys as usual).
2 (prec. by the, my, etc.) colloq. a person's usual drink etc.
1 such as commonly occurs, or is observed or done; customary, habitual (the usual formalities; it is usual to tip them; forgot my keys as usual).
2 (prec. by the, my, etc.) colloq. a person's usual drink etc.
Derivative
usually adv. usualness n.
Etymology
ME f. OF usual, usuel or LL usualis (as USE)
THESAURUS
usual
accepted, accustomed, arranged, average, banal, besetting, bourgeois, businesslike, central, characteristic, chronic, common, commonplace, conformable, consuetudinary, conventional, current, customary, distinctive, distinguishing, dominant, epidemic, established, everyday, exemplary, expected, familiar, formal, frequent, frequentative, garden, garden variety, garden-variety, generally accepted, habitual, hackneyed, harmonious, household, in hand, intermediary, intermediate, many, many times, mean, medial, median, mediocre, medium, methodical, middle-class, middle-of-the-road, middling, moderate, natural, naturalistic, no great shakes, normal, normative, not rare, obtaining, of common occurrence, oft-repeated, oftentime, old, ordered, orderly, ordinary, pandemic, plastic, popular, predictable, predominant, predominating, prescribed, prescriptive, prevailing, prevalent, prosaic, quintessential, rampant, realistic, received, recurrent, regnant, regular, regulation, reigning, rife, routine, ruling, run-of-mine, run-of-the-mill, running, same, sample, set, standard, steady, stereotyped, stock, suburban, symmetrical, systematic, the common, the commonplace, the normal, the ordinary, the usual, thick-coming, time-honored, traditional, trite, true to form, true to type, typal, typic, typical, unexceptional, uniform, unimaginative, universal, unnoteworthy, unoriginal, unremarkable, unspectacular, vernacular, well-known, well-ordered, well-regulated, widespread, wonted, workaday, worn outROGET THESAURUS
usual
Habit
N habit, habitude, assuetude, assuefaction, wont, run, way, common state of things, general state of things, natural state of things, ordinary state of things, ordinary course of things, ordinary run of things, matter of course, beaten path, beaten track, beaten ground, prescription, custom, use, usage, immemorial usage, practice, prevalence, observance, conventionalism, conventionality, mode, fashion, vogue, etiquette, order of the day, cry, conformity, consuetude, dustoor, one's old way, old school, veteris vestigia flammae, laudator temporis acti, rule, standing order, precedent, routine, red-tape, red-tapism, pipe clay, rut, groove, cacoethes, bad habit, confirmed habit, inveterate habit, intrinsic habit, addiction, trick, training, seasoning, second nature, acclimatization, knack, habitual, accustomary, prescriptive, accustomed, of daily occurrence, of everyday occurrence, consuetudinary, wonted, usual, general, ordinary, common, frequent, everyday, household, garden variety, jog, trot, well-trodden, well-known, familiar, vernacular, trite, commonplace, conventional, regular, set, stock, established, stereotyped, prevailing, prevalent, current, received, acknowledged, recognized, accredited, of course, admitted, understood, conformable, according to use, according to custom, according to routine, in vogue, in fashion, in, with it, fashionable, wont, used to, given to, addicted to, attuned to, habituated, in the habit of, habitue, at home in, seasoned, imbued with, devoted to, wedded to, hackneyed, fixed, rooted, deep-rooted, ingrafted, permanent, inveterate, besetting, naturalized, ingrained, habitually, always, as usual, as is one's wont, as things go, as the world goes, as the sparks fly upwards, more suo, more solito, ex more, as a rule, for the most part, usually, generally, typically, most often, most frequently, cela s'entend, abeunt studia in mores, adeo in teneris consuescere multum est, consuetudo quasi altera natura, hoc erat in more majorum, How use doth breed a habit in a man!, magna est vis consuetudinis, morent fecerat usus.Conformity
N conformity, conformance, observance, habituation, naturalization, conventionality, agreement, example, instance, specimen, sample, quotation, exemplification, illustration, case in point, object lesson, elucidation, standard, model, pattern, rule, nature, principle, law, order of things, normal state, natural state, ordinary state, model state, normal condition, natural condition, ordinary condition, model condition, standing dish, standing order, Procrustean law, law of the Medes and Persians, hard and fast rule, conformable to rule, regular, according to regulation, according to rule, according to Hoyle, according to Cocker, according to Gunter, en regle, selon les regles, well regulated, orderly, symmetric, conventional, of daily occurrence, of everyday occurrence, in the natural order of things, ordinary, common, habitual, usual, everyday, workaday, in the order of the day, naturalized, typical, normal, nominal, formal, canonical, orthodox, sound, strict, rigid, positive, uncompromising, Procrustean, secundum artem, shipshape, technical, exempIe, illustrative, in point, conformably, by rule, agreeably to, in conformity with, in accordance with, in keeping with, according to, consistently with, as usual, ad instar, instar omnium, more solito, more-majorum, for the sake of conformity, as a matter of course, of course, pro forma, for form's sake, by the card, invariably, for example, exempli gratia, e, g, inter alia, among other things, for instance, cela va sans dire, ex pede Herculem, noscitur a sociis, ne e quovis ligno Mercurius fiat, they are happy men whose natures sort with their v, The nail that sticks up hammered down, Tall poppy syndrome, Stick your neck out and it may get cut off.Frequency
N frequency, oftness, oftenness, commonness, repetition, normality, example (conformity), routine, custom (habit), regularity, uniformity, constancy, clock-work precision, punctuality, even tenor, system, routine, formula, rule, keynote, standard, model, precedent, conformity, frequent, many times, not rare, thickcoming, incessant, perpetual, continual, steady, constant, thick, uniform, repeated, customary, (habit), regular (normal), according to rule, common, everyday, usual, ordinary, familiar, old-hat, boring, well-known, trivial, often, oft, ofttimes, oftentimes, frequently, repeatedly, unseldom, not unfrequently, in quick succession, in rapid succession, many a time and oft, daily, hourly, every day, every hour, every moment, perpetually, continually, constantly, incessantly, without ceasing, at all times, daily and hourly, night and day, day and night, day after day, morning noon and night, ever anon, invariably (habit), most often, commonly, sometimes, occasionally, at times, now and then, from time to time, there being times when, toties quoties, often enough, when the mood strikes, again and again.Expectance
N expectance, example, instance (conformity), normality (habit), nine days' wonder, expecting, unamazed, astonished at nothing, blase, expected, foreseen, unsurprising, common, ordinary, normal, typical, usual, naturally, as a matter of course, Int, no wonder, of course.For further exploring for "usual" in Webster Dictionary Online