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Webster 1913 Edition

Average

Av′er-age

,
Noun.
[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.
avérage
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
,
Noun.
,
Avercorn
,
Averpenny
.]
1.
(OLd Eng. Law)
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.
[Cf. F.
avarie
damage to ship or cargo.]
(Com.)
(a)
A tariff or duty on goods, etc.
[Obs.]
(b)
Any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight of goods shipped.
(c)
A contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils.
(d)
The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or expense among all interested.
General average
,
a contribution made, by all parties concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice.
Kent.
–
Particular average
signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident; and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles damaged, or by their insurers.
–
Petty averages
are sundry small charges, which occur regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of lading, “primage and average accustomed,” average means a kind of composition established by usage for such charges, which were formerly assessed by way of average.
Arnould.
Abbott.
Phillips.
3.
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.
4.
Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity, quality, rate, etc.
“The average of sensations.”
Paley.
5.
pl.
In the English corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
On an average
,
taking the mean of unequal numbers or quantities.

Av′er-age

,
Adj.
1.
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.
2.
According to the laws of averages;
as, the loss must be made good by
average
contribution
.

Av′er-age

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Averaged
([GREEK]);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Averaging
.]
1.
To find the mean of, when sums or quantities are unequal; to reduce to a mean.
2.
To divide among a number, according to a given proportion;
as, to
average
a loss
.
3.
To do, accomplish, get, etc., on an average.

Av′er-age

,
Verb.
I.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Average

AV'ERAGE

,
Noun.
1.
In commerce, a contribution to a general loss. When for the safety of a ship in distress, any destruction of property is incurred, either by cutting away the masts, throwing goods overboard, or other means, all persons who have goods on board, or property in the ship, contribute to the loss according to their average, that is, the goods of each on board. This principle, introduced into the commerce of Europe, from the Rhodian laws, and recognized by the regulations of Wisby, is now an established rule in the maritime laws of Europe; for it is most reasonable, that when one man's property is sacrificed to save a ship, all persons whose property is saved, or in like hazard, should bear their proportion of the loss.
2.
From the practice of contributing to bear losses, in proportion to each man's property, this word has obtained the present popular sense, which is, that of a mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9 and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average, 10.
3.
A small duty payable by the shippers of goods, to the master of the ship, over and above the freight, for his care of the goods.
Hence the expression in bills of lading, 'paying so much freight with primage and average accustomed.'
4.
In England, the breaking up of cornfields, eddish or roughings.
Upon, or on an average, is taking the mean of unequal numbers or quantities.

AV'ERAGE

,
Adj.
Medial; containing a mean proportion.

AV'ERAGE

,
Verb.
T.
To find the mean of unequal sums or quantities; to reduce to a medium; to divide among a number, according to a given proportion; as, to average a loss.

AV'ERAGE

,
Verb.
I.
To form a mean or medial sum or quantity; as, the losses of the owners will average 25 dollars each.
These spars average 10 feet in length.

Definition 2024

average

average

English

Pronunciation

  • (US) enPR: ăvʹərĭj, enPR: ăvʹrĭj, IPA(key): /ˈævəɹɪdʒ/, /ˈævɹɪdʒ/

Noun

average ‎(plural averages)

  1. (law, marine) Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss. [From 15th C.]
    • 2008, Filiberto Agusti, Beverley Earle, Richard Schaffer, Filiberto Agusti, Beverley Earle, International Business Law and Its Environment, page 219,
      Historically, the courts have allowed a general average claim only where the loss occurred as a result of the ship being in immediate peril. […] The court awarded the carrier the general average claim. It noted that “a ship′s master should not be discouraged from taking timely action to avert a disaster,” and need not be in actual peril to claim general average.
  2. Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods.
  3. Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense.
  4. (mathematics) The arithmetic mean.
    • 2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 11:
      But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.
    The average of 10, 20 and 24 is (10 + 20 + 24)/3 = 18.
  5. (statistics) Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode. [from 1735]
  6. (sports) An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.
    batting average‎
  7. (Britain, in the plural) In the corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
Usage notes
  • (mathematics, statistics): The term average may refer to the statistical mean, median or mode of a batch, sample, or distribution, or sometimes any other measure of central tendency. Statisticians and responsible news sources are careful to use whichever of these specific terms is appropriate. In common usage, average refers to the arithmetic mean. It is, however, a common rhetorical trick to call the most favorable of mean, median and mode the "average" depending on the interpretation of a set of figures that the speaker or writer wants to promote.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Translations

Adjective

average ‎(comparative more average, superlative most average)

  1. (not comparable) Constituting or relating to the average.
    The average age of the participants was 18.5.
  2. 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.
  3. Typical.
    • 2002, Andy Turnbull, The Synthetic Beast: When Corporations Come to Life, page 12,
      We tend to think that exceptionally attractive men and women are outstanding but the fact is that they are more average than most.
    • 2004, Deirdre V. Lovecky, Different Minds: Gifted Children with AD/HD, Asperger Syndrome, and Other Learning Deficits, page 75,
      Things that never would occur to more average children, with and without AD/HD, will give these children nightmares.
    • '2009, Susan T. Fiske, Social Beings: Core Motives in Social Psychology, page 73,
      In other words, highly attractive people like highly attractive communicators and more average people like more average communicators.
    The average family will not need the more expensive features of this product.
  4. (informal) Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor.
    • 2002, Andy Slaven, Video Game Bible, 1985-2002, page 228,
      The graphics, sound, and most everything else are all very average. However, the main thing that brings this game down are the controls - they feel very clumsy and awkward at times.
    • 2005, Brad Knight, Laci Peterson: The Whole Story: Laci, Scott, and Amber's Deadly Love Triangle, page 308,
      But what the vast majority of the populace doesn′t realise is the fact that he′s only on TV because he became famous from one case, Winona Ryder's, which, by the way, he lost because he′s only a very average attorney.
    • 2009, Carn Tiernan, On the Back of the Other Side, page 62,
      In the piano stool there was a stack of music, mostly sentimental ballads intended to be sung by people with very average voices accompanied by not very competent pianists.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

average ‎(third-person singular simple present averages, present participle averaging, simple past and past participle averaged)

  1. (transitive) To compute the average of, especially the arithmetic mean.
    If you average 10, 20 and 24, you get 18.
  2. (transitive) 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 15°C.
    I averaged 75% in my examinations this year.
  3. (transitive) To divide among a number, according to a given proportion.
    to average a loss
  4. (intransitive) To be, generally or on average.
    • 1872 Elliott Coues, Key to North American Birds
      Gulls average much larger than terns, with stouter build […]
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English/Anglo-Norman, from aver ‎(“horse or other beast of burden, service required from the same”) from Old English eafor ‎(“obligation to carry goods and convey messages for one's lord”) from aferian ‎(“to remove, take away”); + -age.

Noun

average ‎(plural averages)

  1. (Britain, law, obsolete) The service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.

French

Etymology

According to the Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch from Old French aver +‎ -age, where aver means "cattle". Thus, cognate to English aver ‎(“work-horse, working ox, or other beast of burden”).[1]

Noun

average m ‎(plural averages)

  1. (obsolete) average (service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.)

References

  1. ↑ (fr)(de) habere in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (Walther von Wartburg, 2002)

Middle French

Etymology

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1993) links average back to Medieval Latin averagium, from averia ‎(“beast of burden”), which the Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch in turn links to habeō ‎(“to have”).

Noun

average m (plural averages)

  1. average (service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.)

References

  • average on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)
  • (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (average)

Etymology

From Old French avarie, from Old Italian avaria (which possibly from Arabic عَوَارِيَّة ‎(ʿawāriyya, “damaged goods”), from عَوَار ‎(ʿawār, “fault, blemish, defect, flaw”), from عَوِرَ ‎(ʿawira, “to lose an eye”)) + English suffix -age.

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