regular
pronunciation
How to pronounce regular in British English:
UK [ˈreɡjələ(r)]
How to pronounce regular in American English:
US [ˈreɡjələr]
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- Noun:
- a regular patron
- a soldier in the regular army
- a dependable follower (especially in party politics)
- a garment size for persons of average height and weight
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- Adjective:
- in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle
- often used as intensifiers
- conforming to a standard or pattern
- (of solids) having clear dimensions that can be measured; volume can be determined with a suitable geometric formula
- regularly scheduled for fixed times
- in accord with regular practice or procedure
- occurring at fixed intervals
- relating to a person who does something regularly
- (used of the military) belonging to or engaged in by legitimate army forces
- not constipated
- symmetrically arranged
- not deviating from what is normal
- officially full-time
Word Origin
- regular
- regular: [14] Regular ‘according to a rule’ is the most instantly recognizable English descendant of Latin rēgula ‘rule’ (others include rail ‘bar’ and rule). It goes back ultimately to the same Indo-European base as produced Latin regere ‘rule’ (source of English rector, regent, etc) and rēx ‘king’ (source of English regal, royal, etc). From it was derived the late Latin verb rēgulāre, which has given English regulate [17], and may also lie behind rile ‘annoy’ [19], a variant of an earlier roil which was possibly imported via Old French ruiler ‘mix mortar’.=> rector, regent, regulate, rile, rule
- regular (adj.)
- late 14c., from Old French reguler "ecclesiastical" (Modern French régulier), from Late Latin regularis "containing rules for guidance," from Latin regula "rule," from PIE *reg- "move in a straight line" (see regal). Earliest sense was of religious orders (the opposite of secular). Extended from late 16c. to shapes, etc., that followed predictable or uniform patterns; sense of "normal" is from 1630s; meaning "real, genuine" is from 1821. Old English borrowed Latin regula and nativized it as regol "rule, regulation, canon, law, standard, pattern;" hence regolsticca "ruler" (instrument); regollic (adj.) "canonical, regular."
- regular (n.)
- c. 1400, "member of a religious order," from regular (adj.). Sense of "soldier of a standing army" is from 1756. Meaning "regular customer" is from 1852; meaning "leaded gasoline" is from 1978.
Antonym
Example
- 1. They send regular email updates .
- 2. They have regular health checks .
- 3. Schedule a regular filing time .
- 4. I haven 't had a regular job since 1992 .
- 5. Another group of rats received a regular diet of rat chow .