ordinary
pronunciation
How to pronounce ordinary in British English:
UK [ˈɔːdnri]
How to pronounce ordinary in American English:
US [ˈɔːrdneri]
-
- Noun:
- a judge of a probate court
- the expected or commonplace condition or situation
- a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death
- an early bicycle with a very large front wheel and small back wheel
- (heraldry) any of several conventional figures used on shields
-
- Adjective:
- not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree
- lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered
Word Origin
- ordinary
- ordinary: [14] Latin ōrdinārius meant ‘following the usual course’; it was a derivative of ōrdō, source of English order. It was originally used in English as a noun, meaning ‘someone with jurisdiction in ecclesiastical cases’, and right up until the 19th century the noun ordinary was common, with an amazingly wide range of meanings (including ‘post, mail’, ‘fixed allowance’, ‘priest who visited people in the condemned cell’, and ‘tavern’). Nowadays, however, the only (quasi-)nominal use at all frequently encountered is in the phrase out of the ordinary. English first took the word up as an adjective in the 15th century.=> order
- ordinary (adj.)
- early 15c., "belonging to the usual order or course," from Old French ordinarie "ordinary, usual" and directly from Latin ordinarius "customary, regular, usual, orderly," from ordo (genitive ordinis) "order" (see order (n.)). Its various noun usages, dating to late 14c. and common until 19c., now largely extinct except in out of the ordinary (1893). In British education, Ordinary level (abbrev. O level), "lowest of the three levels of General Certificate of Education," is attested from 1947. Related: Ordinarily.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Ordinary people haven 't always been unpopular .
- 2. Polls suggest that many ordinary chinese are feeling uneasy .
- 3. But this is no ordinary election .
- 4. But they remain better armed than ordinary criminals .
- 5. I 'm just an ordinary norwegian people .