Definitions for average
ˈæv ər ɪdʒ, ˈæv rɪdʒav·er·age

Princeton's WordNet(3.33 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. average, norm(noun)

   a statistic describing the location of a distribution

   "it set the norm for American homes"

2. average(noun)

   (sports) the ratio of successful performances to opportunities

3. average(adj)

   an intermediate scale value regarded as normal or usual

   "he is about average in height"; "the snowfall this month is below average"

4. average, mean(a)(adj)

   approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value

   "the average income in New England is below that of the nation"; "of average height for his age"; "the mean annual rainfall"

5. average, ordinary(adj)

   lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered

   "average people"; "the ordinary (or common) man in the street"

6. average, fair, mediocre, middling(adj)

   lacking exceptional quality or ability

   "a novel of average merit"; "only a fair performance of the sonata"; "in fair health"; "the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average"; "the performance was middling at best"

7. average, intermediate, medium(adj)

   around the middle of a scale of evaluation

   "an orange of average size"; "intermediate capacity"; "medium bombers"

8. modal(a), average(adj)

   relating to or constituting the most frequent value in a distribution

   "the modal age at which American novelists reach their peak is 30"

9. median(a), average(verb)

   relating to or constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two in a set with an even number of values)

   "the median value of 17, 20, and 36 is 20"; "the median income for the year was $15,000"

10. average, average out(verb)

    amount to or come to an average, without loss or gain

    "The number of hours I work per work averages out to 40"

11. average(verb)

    achieve or reach on average

    "He averaged a C"

12. average, average out(verb)

    compute the average of

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. average(Noun)

   The arithmetic mean.

   The average of 10, 20 and 24 is (10 + 20 + 24)/3 = 18.

2. average(Noun)

   Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode (see Usage notes below).

3. average(Noun)

   An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.

   batting average

4. average(Verb)

   To compute the arithmetic mean of.

   If you average 10, 20 and 24, you get 18.

5. average(Verb)

   Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of.

   The daily high temperature last month averaged 15C.

6. average(Adjective)

   Constituting or relating to the average.

   The average age of the participants was 18.5.

7. average(Adjective)

   Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category.

   I soon found I was only an average chess player.

8. average(Adjective)

   Typical.

9. average(Adjective)

   Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor.

Origin: From avarie, from avaria, from عوارية, from عوار, from عور.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Average(noun)

   that service which a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the carriage of wheat, turf, etc

2. Average(noun)

   a tariff or duty on goods, etc

3. Average(noun)

   any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight of goods shipped

4. Average(noun)

   a contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils

5. Average(noun)

   the equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or expense among all interested

6. Average(noun)

   a mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10

7. Average(noun)

   any medial estimate or general statement derived from a comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity, quality, rate, etc

8. Average(noun)

   in the English corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets

9. Average(adj)

   pertaining to an average or mean; medial; containing a mean proportion; of a mean size, quality, ability, etc.; ordinary; usual; as, an average rate of profit; an average amount of rain; the average Englishman; beings of the average stamp

10. Average(adj)

    according to the laws of averages; as, the loss must be made good by average contribution

11. Average(verb)

    to find the mean of, when sums or quantities are unequal; to reduce to a mean

12. Average(verb)

    to divide among a number, according to a given proportion; as, to average a loss

13. Average(verb)

    to do, accomplish, get, etc., on an average

14. Average(verb)

    to form, or exist in, a mean or medial sum or quantity; to amount to, or to be, on an average; as, the losses of the owners will average twenty five dollars each; these spars average ten feet in length

Origin: [OF. average, LL. averagium, prob. fr. OF. aver, F. avoir, property, horses, cattle, etc.; prop. infin., to have, from L. habere to have. Cf. F. avrage small cattle, and avarie (perh. of different origin) damage to ship or cargo, port dues. The first meaning was perhaps the service of carting a feudal lord's wheat, then charge for carriage, the contribution towards loss of things carried, in proportion to the amount of each person's property. Cf. Aver, n., Avercorn, Averpenny.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Average

   In colloquial language average usually means the sum of a list of numbers divided by the size of the list, in other words the arithmetic mean. However it can alternatively mean the median, the mode, or some other central or typical value. In statistics, these are all known as measures of central tendency. The concept of an average can be extended in various ways in mathematics, but in those contexts it is usually referred to as a mean

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Average

   av′ėr-āj, n. the mean value or quantity of a number of values or quantities: any expense incurred beyond the freight, payable by the owner of the goods shipped, as in the phrase Petty average: any loss or damage to ship or cargo from unavoidable accidental causes—Particular average. Again, General average is the apportionment of loss caused by measures taken for the ship's safety, as cutting away the masts, throwing overboard cargo, accepting towage, or the like.—adj. containing a mean value: ordinary.—v.t. to fix an average.—v.i. to exist in, or form, a mean quantity. [Dr Murray says the word first appears about 1500 in connection with the maritime trade of the Mediterranean (Fr. avarie, Sp. averia, It. avaria); probably averia is a derivative of It. avere (O. Fr. aveir), goods, the original sense being a 'charge on property or goods.' The It. avere and O. Fr. aveir meant goods, substance, cattle—L. habēre, to have. The Old Eng. aver in the same sense is obsolete, but in Scotland aver still means an old horse.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'average' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1694

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'average' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1999

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'average' in Nouns Frequency: #1146

4. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'average' in Adjectives Frequency: #211

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of average in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of average in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of average in a Sentence

1. Johnny Wowk:

   I'm not your average Johnny

2. Father Larry Lorenzoni:

   The average person thinks he isn't.

3. Paul Shekelle:

   There's no magic bullet out there, on average.

4. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Fettig:

   We need to see the average household income rise.

5. Joe Elmore:

   On average, it costs about $377 to save an animal.

Images & Illustrations of average

Popularity rank by frequency of use