Definitions for ordinary
ˈɔr dnˌɛr ior·di·nary

Princeton's WordNet(3.43 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ordinary(noun)

   a judge of a probate court

2. ordinary(noun)

   the expected or commonplace condition or situation

   "not out of the ordinary"

3. ordinary(noun)

   a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death

4. ordinary, ordinary bicycle(noun)

   an early bicycle with a very large front wheel and small back wheel

5. ordinary(adj)

   (heraldry) any of several conventional figures used on shields

6. ordinary(adj)

   not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree

   "ordinary everyday objects"; "ordinary decency"; "an ordinary day"; "an ordinary wine"

7. average, ordinary(adj)

   lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered

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

Wiktionary(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ordinary(Noun)

   A devotional manual.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

2. ordinary(Noun)

   A rule, or book of rules, prescribing the order of service, especially of Mass.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

3. ordinary(Noun)

   A person having immediate jurisdiction in a given case of ecclesiastical law, such as the bishop within a diocese.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

4. ordinary(Noun)

   A set portion of food, later as available for a fixed price at an inn or other eating establishment.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

5. ordinary(Noun)

   A place where such meals are served; a public tavern, inn.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

6. ordinary(Noun)

   One of the standard geometric designs placed across the center of a coat of arms, such as a pale or fess.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

7. ordinary(Noun)

   An ordinary thing or person.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

8. ordinary(Noun)

   A penny-farthing bicycle.

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

9. ordinary(Adjective)

   Having regular jurisdiction (of a judge; now only used in certain phrases).

   Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

10. ordinary(Adjective)

    Being part of the natural order of things; normal, customary, routine.

    On an ordinary day I wake up at nine o'clock, work for six hours, and then go to the gym.

    Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

11. ordinary(Adjective)

    Having no special characteristics or function; everyday, common, mundane (often deprecatory).

    Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

12. ordinary(Adjective)

    Bad or undesirable.

    Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

13. Ordinary(Noun)

    The part of the Roman Catholic Mass that is the same every day

    Etymology: From ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from ordinarius, from ordo.

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Ordinary

   An ordinary is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system. In the Episcopal Church, for example, an ordinary is a diocesan bishop. In Eastern Christianity, a corresponding officer is called a hierarch. Within civic governance, notably in the southern United States, the role of the county ordinary historically involved the discharge of certain, often legal or legally related, tasks falling to city or county authorities, such as licensing marriages and adjudicating claims against an authority.

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

1. Ordinary

   or′di-na-ri, adj. according to the common order: usual: of common rank: plain: of little merit: (coll.) plain-looking.—n. a judge of ecclesiastical or other causes who acts in his own right: something settled or customary: actual office: a bishop or his deputy: a place where regular meals are provided at fixed charges: the common run or mass: (her.) one of a class of armorial charges, called also honourable ordinaries, figures of simple outline and geometrical form, conventional in character—chief, pale, fess, bend, bend-sinister, chevron, cross, saltire, pile, pall, bordure, orle, tressure, canton, flanches.—adv. Or′dinarily.—Ordinary of the mass, the established sequence or fixed order for saying mass.—In ordinary, in regular and customary attendance.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ordinary

   The establishment of the persons formerly employed to take charge of the ships of war which are laid up in ordinary at several harbours adjacent to the royal dockyards. These duties are now under the superintendent of the dockyard. Also, the state of such men-of-war and vessels as are out of commission and laid up.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ordinary' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1589

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ordinary' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1339

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ordinary' in Adjectives Frequency: #182

How to pronounce ordinary?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say ordinary in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ordinary in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ordinary in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of ordinary in a Sentence

1. United States:

   It would be extremely out of the ordinary for them not do this for a senior leader like al-Asiri, especially because his group in Yemen are putting out all sorts of statements all the time, every time a senior leader within al-Qaeda or its affiliate in Yemen has been killed, they have been quick to put out a statement. It's seen as a religious necessity from a Shariah point of view.

2. Antonin Artaud:

   You are outside life, you are above life, you have miseries which the ordinary man does not know, you exceed the normal level, and it is for this that men refuse to forgive you, you poison their peace of mind, you undermine their stability. You have irrepressible pains whose essence is to be inadaptable to any known state, indescribable in words. You have repeated and shifting pains, incurable pains, pains beyond imagining, pains which are neither of the body nor of the soul, but which partake of both. And I share your suffering, and I ask you: who dares to ration our relief? We are not going to kill ourselves just yet. In the meantime, leave us the hell alone.

3. Nicola Sturgeon:

   So to everyone who, like me, wants this election to herald the real and positive change that will make life better for ordinary people across these islands, I hold out a hand of friendship, the SNP if we are given the chance will be your allies in making that change.

4. Thaksin Shinawatra:

   People can see that the brother and sister have fled, deserting those that served them, who are in jail, from cabinet ministers to ordinary folk.

5. Mike Forsythe:

   It's an incredible amount of wealth that goes to Beijing every March, you don't see as many farmers, you know ? You don't see as many ordinary people there. Why do these billionaires, fabulously wealthy billionaires, have a seat at the table ?

Images & Illustrations of ordinary

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