Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Normal
Nor′mal
(nôr′mal)
, Adj.
1.
According to an established norm, rule, or principle; conformed to a type, standard, or regular form; performing the proper functions; not abnormal; regular; natural; analogical.
Deviations from the
normal
type. Hallam.
2.
(Geom.)
According to a square or rule; perpendicular; forming a right angle;
as, a line
. Specifically: Of or pertaining to a normal. normal
to the base3.
(Chem.)
Standard; original; exact; typical.
Specifically:
(a)
(Quantitative Analysis)
Denoting a solution of such strength that every cubic centimeter contains the same number of milligrams of the element in question as the number of its molecular weight.
(b)
(Chem.)
Denoting certain hypothetical compounds, as acids from which the real acids are obtained by dehydration; thus, normal sulphuric acid and normal nitric acid are respectively
S(OH)6
, and N(OH)5
. (c)
(Organ. Chem.)
Denoting that series of hydrocarbons in which no carbon atom is bound to more than two other carbon atoms;
as,
Cf. normal
pentane, hexane, etc. Iso-
. Normal equations
(Method of Least Squares)
, a set of equations of the first degree equal in number to the number of unknown quantities, and derived from the observations by a specified process. The solution of the normal equations gives the most probable values of the unknown quantities.
– Normal group
(Geol.)
, a group of rocks taken as a standard.
Lyell.
– Normal place
(of a planet or comet) (Astron.)
, the apparent place in the heavens of a planet or comet at a specified time, the place having been determined by a considerable number of observations, extending perhaps over many days, and so combined that the accidental errors of observation have largely balanced each other.
– Normal school
, a school whose methods of instruction are to serve as a model for imitation; an institution for the training of teachers.
Regular and ordinary are popular terms of well-known signification; normal has now a more specific sense, arising out of its use in science. A thing is normal, or in its normal state, when strictly conformed to those principles of its constitution which mark its species or to the standard of a healthy and natural condition. It is
abnormal
when it departs from those principles. 1.
(Geom.)
Any perpendicular.
2.
(Geom.)
A straight line or plane drawn from any point of a curve or surface so as to be perpendicular to the curve or surface at that point.
☞ The term normal is also used to denote the distance along the normal line from the curve to the axis of abscissas or to the center of curvature.
Webster 1828 Edition
Normal
NOR'MAL
,Adj.
1.
According to a square or rule; perpendicular; forming a right angle.2.
According to a rule or principle.3.
Relating to rudiments or elements; teaching rudiments or first principles; as normal schools in France.Definition 2024
Normal
normal
normal
English
Adjective
normal (comparative more normal, superlative most normal)
- According to norms or rules.
- Organize the data into third normal form.
- Healthy; not sick or ill.
- John is feeling normal again.
- (Of a school) teaching teachers how to teach (to certain norms).
- My grandmother attended Mankato State Normal School.
- (chemistry) Of, relating to, or being a solution containing one equivalent weight of solute per litre of solution.
- (organic chemistry) Describing a straight chain isomer of an aliphatic hydrocarbon, or an aliphatic compound in which a substituent is in the 1- position of such a hydrocarbon.
- (physics, of a mode in an oscillating system) In which all parts of an object vibrate at the same frequency (see normal mode).
- (rail transport, of points) in the default position, set for the most frequently used route.
- (geometry) Perpendicular to a tangent line or derivative of a surface in Euclidean space.
- The interior normal vector of a ideal perfect sphere will always point toward the center, and the exterior normal vector directly away, and both will always be co-linear with the ray whose' tip ends at the point of intersection, which is the intersection of all three sets of points.
- (mathematics) Adhering to or being what is considered natural or regular in a particular field or context:
- (of a real number) Whose digits, in any base representation, enjoy a uniform distribution.
- (algebra, of a subgroup) With cosets which form a group.
- (algebra, of a field extension of a field K) Which is the splitting field of a family of polynomials in K.
- (probability theory, statistics, of a distribution) Which has a very specific bell curve shape.
- (complex analysis, of a family of continuous functions) Which is pre-compact.
- (set theory, of a function from the ordinals to the ordinals) Which is strictly monotonically increasing and continuous with respect to the order topology.
- (linear algebra, of a matrix) Which commutes with its conjugate transpose.
- (functional analysis, of a Hilbert space operator) Which commutes with its adjoint.
- (category theory) Being (as a morphism) or containing (as a category) only normal epimorphism(s) or monomorphism(s), that is, those which are the kernel or cokernel of some morphism, respectively.
- (topology, of a topology) In which disjoint closed sets can be separated by disjoint neighborhoods.
Synonyms
- (usual): conventional, ordinary, standard, usual, regular, average, expected, natural
- (healthy): hale, healthy, well
- (perpendicular): at right angles to, perpendicular, orthogonal
- (statistics): Gaussian
Antonyms
- (usual): unconventional, nonstandard, unusual
- (healthy): ill, poorly (British), sick, unwell
- (perpendicular): tangential
- (rail transport): reverse
Derived terms
|
Related terms
Translations
according to norms or rules
|
|
usual, ordinary
|
|
healthy; not sick or ill
Usage notes
- Warning: normal, when used to describe a majority group of people, can be considered offensive to those who don't consider membership of their own minority to be unusual. Care should be taken when juxtaposing normal, particularly with stereotypical labels, to avoid undue insult.
Noun
normal (countable and uncountable, plural normals)
- (geometry) A line or vector that is perpendicular to another line, surface, or plane.
- (slang, countable) A person who is normal, who fits into mainstream society, as opposed to those who live alternative lifestyles.
- (uncountable) The usual state.
- His workload is now back to normal.
- Heavy workload is the new normal.
Synonyms
- (normal person): see Wikisaurus:mainstreamer
Translations
mathematics: a line perpendicular to another
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
normal m (feminine singular normale, masculine plural normaux, feminine plural normales)
- normal (according to norms, usual, pertaining to a school to teach teachers how to teach)
Antonyms
Derived terms
- normalement
- normalisation
- normalité
- supernormal
- ultranormal
Related terms
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɔʁˈmaːl/
- Rhymes: -aːl
Adjective
normal (comparative normaler, superlative am normalsten)
Derived terms
Declension
Positive forms of normal
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist normal | sie ist normal | es ist normal | sie sind normal | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | normaler | normale | normales | normale |
| genitive | normalen | normaler | normalen | normaler | |
| dative | normalem | normaler | normalem | normalen | |
| accusative | normalen | normale | normales | normale | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der normale | die normale | das normale | die normalen |
| genitive | des normalen | der normalen | des normalen | der normalen | |
| dative | dem normalen | der normalen | dem normalen | den normalen | |
| accusative | den normalen | die normale | das normale | die normalen | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein normaler | eine normale | ein normales | (keine) normalen |
| genitive | eines normalen | einer normalen | eines normalen | (keiner) normalen | |
| dative | einem normalen | einer normalen | einem normalen | (keinen) normalen | |
| accusative | einen normalen | eine normale | ein normales | (keine) normalen | |
Comparative forms of normal
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist normaler | sie ist normaler | es ist normaler | sie sind normaler | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | normalerer | normalere | normaleres | normalere |
| genitive | normaleren | normalerer | normaleren | normalerer | |
| dative | normalerem | normalerer | normalerem | normaleren | |
| accusative | normaleren | normalere | normaleres | normalere | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der normalere | die normalere | das normalere | die normaleren |
| genitive | des normaleren | der normaleren | des normaleren | der normaleren | |
| dative | dem normaleren | der normaleren | dem normaleren | den normaleren | |
| accusative | den normaleren | die normalere | das normalere | die normaleren | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein normalerer | eine normalere | ein normaleres | (keine) normaleren |
| genitive | eines normaleren | einer normaleren | eines normaleren | (keiner) normaleren | |
| dative | einem normaleren | einer normaleren | einem normaleren | (keinen) normaleren | |
| accusative | einen normaleren | eine normalere | ein normaleres | (keine) normaleren | |
Superlative forms of normal
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist am normalsten | sie ist am normalsten | es ist am normalsten | sie sind am normalsten | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | normalster | normalste | normalstes | normalste |
| genitive | normalsten | normalster | normalsten | normalster | |
| dative | normalstem | normalster | normalstem | normalsten | |
| accusative | normalsten | normalste | normalstes | normalste | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der normalste | die normalste | das normalste | die normalsten |
| genitive | des normalsten | der normalsten | des normalsten | der normalsten | |
| dative | dem normalsten | der normalsten | dem normalsten | den normalsten | |
| accusative | den normalsten | die normalste | das normalste | die normalsten | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein normalster | eine normalste | ein normalstes | (keine) normalsten |
| genitive | eines normalsten | einer normalsten | eines normalsten | (keiner) normalsten | |
| dative | einem normalsten | einer normalsten | einem normalsten | (keinen) normalsten | |
| accusative | einen normalsten | eine normalste | ein normalstes | (keine) normalsten | |
Ladin
Adjective
normal m (feminine singular normala, masculine plural normai, feminine plural normales)
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Adjective
normal (neuter singular normalt, definite singular and plural normale)
Antonyms
Derived terms
References
- “normal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Adjective
normal (neuter singular normalt, definite singular and plural normale)
Antonyms
Derived terms
References
- “normal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
normal m, f (plural normais, comparable)
Related terms
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French normal, Latin normālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /norˈmal/
Adjective
normal m, n (feminine singular normală, masculine plural normali, feminine and neuter plural normale)
Adverb
normal
Spanish
Adjective
normal m, f (plural normales)
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun
normal f (plural normales)
Related terms
Swedish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
normal (comparative normalare, superlative normalast)
Declension
| Inflection of normal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite/attributive | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | normal | normalare | normalast |
| Neuter singular | normalt | normalare | normalast |
| Plural | normala | normalare | normalast |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | normale | normalare | normalaste |
| All | normala | normalare | normalaste |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in an attributive role. | |||
Related terms
Antonyms
Noun
normal c
- a normal, a line which is perpendicular to another line or to a surface
Declension
| Inflection of normal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | normal | normalen | normaler | normalerna |
| Genitive | normals | normalens | normalers | normalernas |