Ordinary

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: or=di=nar=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

Ordinary, a. [L. ordinarius, fr. ordo, ordinis, order: cf. F. ordinaire. See Order.].

•  According to established order; methodical; settled; regular.  Addison.  [1913 Webster]
•  Common; customary; usual.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "Method is not less requisite in ordinary conversation that in writing."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way."  [1913 Webster]

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

Syn. -- Normal; common; usual; customary.

Ordinary, n. 

•  An officer who has original jurisdiction in his own right, and not by deputation.  [1913 Webster]
•  The mass; the common run.  [1913 Webster]

  "I see no more in you than in the ordinary
  Of nature's salework."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which is so common, or continued, as to be considered a settled establishment or institution.  [1913 Webster]

  "Spain had no other wars save those which were grown into an ordinary."  [1913 Webster]
•  Anything which is in ordinary or common use.  [1913 Webster]

  "Water buckets, wagons, cart wheels, plow socks, and other ordinaries."  [1913 Webster]
•  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'hôte; hence, also, the meal furnished at such a dining room.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "All the odd words they have picked up in a coffeehouse, or a gaming ordinary, are produced as flowers of style."  [1913 Webster]

  "He exacted a tribute for licenses to hawkers and peddlers and to ordinaries."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Ordinary, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 a regular, normal, customary, usual (in the ordinary course of events). b boring; commonplace (an ordinary little man).
2 Brit. Law (esp. of a judge) having immediate or ex officio jurisdiction, not deputed.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1 Brit. Law a person, esp. a judge, having immediate or ex officio jurisdiction.
2 (the Ordinary) a an archbishop in a province. b a bishop in a diocese.
3 (usu. Ordinary) RC Ch. a those parts of a service, esp. the mass, which do not vary from day to day. b a rule or book laying down the order of divine service.
4 Heraldry a charge of the earliest, simplest, and commonest kind (esp. chief, pale, bend, fess, bar, chevron, cross, saltire).
5 (Ordinary) (also Lord Ordinary) any of the judges of the Court of Session in Scotland, constituting the Outer House.
6 esp. US hist. an early type of bicycle with one large and one very small wheel; a penny-farthing.
7 Brit. hist. a a public meal provided at a fixed time and price at an inn etc. b an establishment providing this.
8 US a tavern.

Idiom

in ordinary Brit. by permanent appointment (esp. to the royal household) (physician in ordinary). in the ordinary way if the circumstances are or were not exceptional. ordinary level Brit. hist. the lowest of the three levels of the GCE examination. ordinary scale = decimal scale. ordinary seaman a sailor of the lowest rank, that below able-bodied seaman. ordinary shares Brit. shares entitling holders to a dividend from net profits (cf. preference shares). out of the ordinary unusual.

Derivative

ordinarily adv. ordinariness n.

Etymology

ME f. L ordinarius orderly (as ORDER)

THESAURUS

Ordinary

American plan, Attic, Babbittish, European plan, JA, Philistine, a la carte, accepted, accustomed, achievement, alerion, amicus curiae, animal charge, annulet, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, assessor, average, azure, banal, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, barmaster, baseborn, baton, bearings, below the salt, bend, bend sinister, besetting, billet, bizarre, blazon, blazonry, boardinghouse, bordure, bourgeois, broad arrow, cadency mark, campy, canton, central, chancellor, chaplet, charge, chaste, chevron, chief, circuit judge, classic, classical, coat of arms, cockatrice, cockney, common, commonplace, conformable, consuetudinary, convention, conventional, coronet, couvert, cover, cover charge, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, curious, current, customary, demeaning, device, difference, differencing, different, disadvantaged, dominant, dorm, dormitory, doss house, dull, eagle, eccentric, epidemic, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, established, everyday, exceptional, expected, extraordinary, fair, falcon, familiar, fess, fess point, field, file, flanch, flat, fleabag, fleur-de-lis, flophouse, frequent, frequentative, fret, fur, fusil, garden, garden variety, garden-variety, garland, general, generally accepted, griffin, guest house, gules, gyron, habitual, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, high-camp, homely, homespun, honor point, hospice, hostel, hostelry, hotel, household, humble, humdrum, impalement, impaling, in the shade, inescutcheon, inferior, infra dig, inn, insipid, intermediary, intermediate, judge advocate, judge ordinary, junior, jurat, justice in eyre, justice of assize, kitschy, label, lay judge, legal assessor, less, lesser, lion, lodging house, low, low-camp, lowborn, lowbred, lower, lowly, lozenge, mantling, many, many times, marshaling, martlet, mascle, master, matter-of-fact, mean, medial, median, mediocre, medium, metal, middle-class, middle-of-the-road, middling, military judge, minor, moderate, modest, motto, mullet, mundane, natural, no great shakes, nombril point, nonclerical, nondescript, norm, normal, normative, not rare, obtaining, octofoil, odd, of common occurrence, offbeat, oft-repeated, oftentime, ombudsman, or, original, orle, outlandish, pale, paly, pandemic, passable, pean, peasant, peculiar, pedestrian, pension, pheon, picturesque, plain, plastic, plebeian, poetryless, police judge, pop, popular, posada, predominant, predominating, prescribed, prescriptive, presiding judge, prevailing, prevalent, probate judge, prosaic, prosing, prosy, provincial, pub, public, public house, puisne judge, pure, pure and simple, purpure, quaint, quarter, quartering, quotidian, rampant, rare, received, recorder, recurrent, regnant, regular, regulation, reigning, rife, roadhouse, rooming house, rose, routine, rude, ruling, run-of-mine, run-of-the-mill, running, sable, saltire, scutcheon, second rank, second string, secondary, self-service, service, servile, set, shabby-genteel, shield, simple, singular, so so, spread eagle, standard, status quo, stereotyped, stock, strange, striking, sub, subaltern, subject, subordinary, subordinate, subservient, suburban, tavern, tenne, the common, the commonplace, the normal, the ordinary, the usual, thick-coming, third rank, third string, third-estate, time-honored, tincture, tiresome, torse, traditional, tressure, typical, uncommon, unconventional, underprivileged, undistinguished, unembellished, uneventful, unexceptional, unexpected, unfamiliar, ungenteel, unicorn, unidealistic, unimaginative, unimpassioned, uninspired, unique, universal, unnoteworthy, unpoetic, unpretentious, unrefined, unremarkable, unromantic, unspectacular, unusual, usual, vair, vapid, vernacular, vert, vice-chancellor, vulgar, weird, widespread, wonted, workaday, workday, wreath, yale

ROGET THESAURUS

Ordinary

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.

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Imperfection

N imperfection, imperfectness, deficiency, inadequacy, peccancy, immaturity, fault, defect, weak point, screw loose, flaw, gap, twist, taint, attainder, bar sinister, hole in one's coat, blemish, weakness, half blood, shortcoming, drawback, seamy side, mediocrity, no great shakes, no great catch, not much to boast of, one-horse shay, imperfect, not perfect, deficient, defective, faulty, unsound, tainted, out of order, out of tune, cracked, leaky, sprung, warped, lame, injured, peccant, frail, inadequate, crude, incomplete, found wanting, below par, short-handed, below its full strength, under its full strength, below its full complement, indifferent, middling, ordinary, mediocre, average, so-so, coucicouci, milk and water, tolerable, fair, passable, pretty well, pretty good, rather good, moderately good, good, good enough, well enough, adequate, decent, not bad, not amiss, inobjectionable, unobjectionable, admissible, bearable, only better than nothing, secondary, inferior, second-rate, second-best, one-horse, almost, to a limited extent, rather, pretty, moderately, passing, only, considering, all things considered, enough, surgit amari aliquid.

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.

Ugliness

N ugliness, deformity, inelegance, acomia, disfigurement, want of symmetry, inconcinnity, distortion, squalor, forbidding countenance, vinegar aspect, hanging look, wry face, spretae injuria formae, eyesore, object, witch, hag, figure, sight, fright, monster, dog, woofer, pig, octopus, specter, scarecrow, harridan, satyr, toad, monkey, baboon, Caliban, Aesop, monstrum horrendum informe ingens cui lumen adempt, ugly, ugly as sin, ugly as a toad, ugly as a scarecrow, ugly as a dead monkey, plain, bald (unadorned), homely, ordinary, unornamental, inartistic, unsightly, unseemly, uncomely, unlovely, unshapely, sightless, seemless, not fit to be seen, unbeauteous, unbeautiful, beautiless, semibeautiful, shapeless, misshapen, misproportioned, monstrous, gaunt, dumpy, curtailed of its fair proportions, ill-made, ill- shaped, ill-proportioned, crooked, hard featured, hard visaged, ill-favored, hard-favored, evil-favored, ill-looking, unprepossessing, unattractive, uninviting, unpleasing, graceless, inelegant, ungraceful, ungainly, uncouth, stiff, rugged, rough, gross, rude, awkward, clumsy, slouching, rickety, gawky, lumping, lumpish, lumbering, hulky, hulking, unwieldy, squalid, haggard, grim, grim faced, grim visaged, grisly, ghastly, ghost like, death like, cadaverous, grewsome, gruesome, frightful, hideous, odious, uncanny, forbidding, repellant, repulsive, repugnant, grotesque, bizarre, grody, grody to the max, horrid, horrible, shocking, foul, dingy, gaudy, disfigured, discolored.

Simplicity

N simplicity, plainness, homeliness, undress, chastity, simple, plain, homely, homespun, ordinary, household, unaffected, ingenuous, sincere (artless), free from affectation, free from ornament, simplex munditiis, sans facon, en deshabille, chaste, inornate, severe, unadorned, bare, unornamented, undecked, ungarnished, unarranged, untrimmed, unvarnished, bald, flat, dull, veritatis simplex oratio est.

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.

Food

N food, eating, deglutition, gulp, epulation, mastication, manducation, rumination, gluttony, hippophagy, ichthyophagy, (appetite), mouth, jaws, mandible, mazard, gob, chops, drinking, potation, draught, libation, carousal, drunkenness, food, pabulum, aliment, nourishment, nutriment, sustenance, sustentation, sustention, nurture, subsistence, provender, corn, feed, fodder, provision, ration, keep, commons, board, commissariat, prey, forage, pasture, pasturage, fare, cheer, diet, dietary, regimen, belly timber, staff of life, bread, bread and cheese, comestibles, eatables, victuals, edibles, ingesta, grub, grubstake, prog, meat, bread, bread stuffs, cerealia, cereals, viands, cates, delicacy, dainty, creature comforts, contents of the larder, fleshpots, festal board, ambrosia, good cheer, good living, beef, bisquit, bun, cornstarch, cookie, cooky, cracker, doughnut, fatling, hardtack, hoecake, hominy, mutton, pilot bread, pork, roti, rusk, ship biscuit, veal, joint, piece de resistance, roast and boiled, remove, entremet, releve, hash, rechauffe, stew, ragout, fricassee, mince, pottage, potage, broth, soup, consomme, puree, spoonmeat, pie, pasty, volauvent, pudding, omelet, pastry, sweets, kickshaws, condiment, appetizer, hors d'oeuvre, main course, entree, alligator pear, apple, apple slump, artichoke, ashcake, griddlecake, pancake, flapjack, atole, avocado, banana, beche de mer, barbecue, beefsteak, beet root, blackberry, blancmange, bloater, bouilli, bouillon, breadfruit, chop suey, chowder, chupatty, clam, compote, damper, fish, frumenty, grapes, hasty pudding, ice cream, lettuce, mango, mangosteen, mince pie, oatmeal, oyster, pineapple, porridge, porterhouse steak, salmis, sauerkraut, sea slug, sturgeon ("Albany beef"), succotash, supawn, trepang, vanilla, waffle, walnut, table, cuisine, bill of fare, menu, table d'hote, ordinary, entree, meal, repast, feed, spread, mess, dish, plate, course, regale, regalement, refreshment, entertainment, refection, collation, picnic, feast, banquet, junket, breakfast, lunch, luncheon, dejeuner, bever, tiffin, dinner, supper, snack, junk food, fast food, whet, bait, dessert, potluck, table d'hote, dejeuner a la fourchette, hearty meal, square meal, substantial meal, full meal, blowout, light refreshment, bara, chotahazri, bara khana, mouthful, bolus, gobbet, morsel, sop, sippet, drink, beverage, liquor, broth, soup, potion, dram, draught, drench, swill, nip, sip, sup, gulp, wine, spirits, liqueur, beer, ale, malt liquor, Sir John Barleycorn, stingo, heavy wet, grog, toddy, flip, purl, punch, negus, cup, bishop, wassail, gin, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, tea, the cup that cheers but not inebriates, bock beer, lager beer, Pilsener beer, schenck beer, Brazil tea, cider, claret, ice water, mate, mint julep, near beer, 2 beer, non- alcoholic beverage, eating house, diner, hippophage, glutton, eatable, edible, esculent, comestible, alimentary, cereal, cibarious, dietetic, culinary, nutritive, nutritious, gastric, succulent, potable, potulent, bibulous, omnivorous, carnivorous, herbivorous, granivorous, graminivorous, phytivorous, ichthyivorous, omophagic, omophagous, pantophagous, phytophagous, xylophagous, across the walnuts and the wine, blessed hour of our dinners!, now good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both!, who can cloy the hungry edge of appetite?.