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Webster 1913 Edition

Ordinary

Or′di-na-ry

,
Adj.
[L.
ordinarius
, fr.
ordo
,
ordinis
, order: cf. F.
ordinaire
. See
Order
.]
1.
According to established order; methodical; settled; regular.
“The ordinary forms of law.”
Addison.
2.
Common; customary; usual.
Shak.
Method is not less requisite in
ordinary
conversation that in writing.
Addison.
3.
Of common rank, quality, or ability; not distinguished by superior excellence or beauty; hence, not distinguished in any way; commonplace; inferior; of little merit;
as, men of
ordinary
judgment; an
ordinary
book.
An
ordinary
lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way.
Macaulay.
Ordinary seaman
(Naut.)
,
one not expert or fully skilled, and hence ranking below an
able seaman
.
Syn. – Normal; common; usual; customary.
See
Normal
. –
Ordinary
,
Common
. A thing is common in which many persons share or partake; as, a common practice. A thing is ordinary when it is apt to come round in the regular common order or succession of events.

Or′di-na-ry

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Ordinaries
(-rĭz)
.
1.
(Law)
(a)
(Roman Law)
An officer who has original jurisdiction in his own right, and not by deputation.
(b)
(Eng. Law)
One who has immediate jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical; an ecclesiastical judge; also, a deputy of the bishop, or a clergyman appointed to perform divine service for condemned criminals and assist in preparing them for death.
(c)
(Am. Law)
A judicial officer, having generally the powers of a judge of probate or a surrogate.
2.
The mass; the common run.
[Obs.]
I see no more in you than in the
ordinary

Of nature’s salework.
Shakespeare
3.
That which is so common, or continued, as to be considered a settled establishment or institution.
[R.]
Spain had no other wars save those which were grown into an
ordinary
.
Bacon.
4.
Anything which is in ordinary or common use.
Water buckets, wagons, cart wheels, plow socks, and other
ordinaries
.
Sir W. Scott.
5.
A dining room or eating house where a meal is prepared for all comers, at a fixed price for the meal, in distinction from one where each dish is separately charged; a table d'hôte; hence, also, the meal furnished at such a dining room.
Shak.
All the odd words they have picked up in a coffeehouse, or a gaming
ordinary
, are produced as flowers of style.
Swift.
He exacted a tribute for licenses to hawkers and peddlers and to
ordinaries
.
Bancroft.
6.
(Her.)
A charge or bearing of simple form, one of nine or ten which are in constant use. The
bend
,
chevron
,
chief
,
cross
,
fesse
,
pale
, and
saltire
are uniformly admitted as ordinaries. Some authorities include bar, bend sinister, pile, and others. See
Subordinary
.
In ordinary
.
(a)
In actual and constant service; statedly attending and serving;
as, a physician or chaplain
in ordinary
. An ambassador
in ordinary
is one constantly resident at a foreign court
.
(b)
(Naut.)
Out of commission and laid up; – said of a naval vessel.
–
Ordinary of the Mass
(R. C. Ch.)
,
the part of the Mass which is the same every day; – called also the
canon of the Mass
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ordinary

OR'DINARY

,
Adj.
[L. ordinarius.]
1.
According to established order; methodical; regular; customary; as the ordinary forms of law or justice.
2.
Common; usual.
Method is not less requisite in ordinary conversation than in writing.
3.
Of common rank; not distinguished by superior excellence; as an ordinary reader; men of ordinary judgment.
4.
Plain; not handsome; as an ordinary woman; a person of an ordinary form; an ordinary face.
5.
Inferior; of little merit; as, the book is an ordinary performance.
6.
An ordinary seaman is one not expert or fully skilled.

OR'DINARY

,
Noun.
1.
In the common and canon law, one who has ordinary or immediate jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical; an ecclesiastical judge. In England, the bishop of the diocese is commonly the ordinary, and the archbishop is the ordinary of the whole province. The ordinary of assizes and sessions was formerly a deputy of the bishop, appointed to give malefactors their neck-verses. The ordinary of Newgate is one who attends on condemned malefactors to prepare them for death.
2.
Settled establishment.
3.
Regular price of a meal.
4.
A place of eating where the prices are settled.
5.
The establishment of persons employed by government to take charge of ships of war laid up in harbors. Hence a ship in ordinary is one laid up under the direction of the master attendant.
In ordinary, in actual and constant service; statedly attending and serving; as a physician or chaplain in ordinary. An embassador in ordinary, is one constantly resident at a foreign court.

Definition 2024

Ordinary

Ordinary

See also: ordinary

English

Noun

Ordinary

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

ordinary

ordinary

See also: Ordinary

English

Adjective

ordinary ‎(comparative more ordinary, superlative most ordinary)

  1. (law, of a judge) Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases.
  2. 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.‎
    • a. 1719, Joseph Addison, 1741, The Works of the Late Honourable Joseph Addison, Eſq., Volume 3, page 545,
      Method is not leſs requiſite in ordinary converſation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himſelf underſtood.
  3. Having no special characteristics or function; everyday, common, mundane; often deprecatory.
    I live a very ordinary life most of the time, but every year I spend a week in Antarctica.‎
    He looked so ordinary, I never thought he'd be capable of murder.‎
    • a. 1859, Thomas Macaulay, "Samuel Johnson," in 1871, Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay Trevelyan, editor), The Works of Lord Macaulay Complete, Volume 7, page 325,
      An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way: but much that was dull to ordinary lads was interesting to Samuel.
    • 1915, George A. Birmingham, “chapter I”, in Gossamer (Project Gutenberg; EBook #24394), London: Methuen & Co., published 8 January 2013 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 558189256:
      It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the **** begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
  4. (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, informal) Bad or undesirable.
    • 1983 September 20, Bruce Stannard, Australia II Joins Our Greats, The Age, republished 2003, David Headon (editor), The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing: A 200 Year Collection, page 480,
      It was, in some ways a sad, almost pathetic sight to see this great American boat which had fought so hard throughout the cup summer, now looking very ordinary indeed.
    • 1961, Joanna White, quoted in 2005, A. James Hammerton, Alistair Thomson, Ten Pound Poms: Australia′s Invisible Migrants, page 80,
      For myself, I loved adventure and travelling. I′d already done quite a bit of travelling in Europe and — couldn′t get enough of it and whilst my marriage, at that stage, was very happy, he was very entrenched as a Londoner, Cockney, absolutely Cockney Londoner, and I could see that our future was pretty ordinary and so my hidden agenda I suppose was to drag him out to Australia and hope that both our lifestyles would improve and there would be new opportunities.
    • 2007, Chris Viner-Smith, Australia′s Forgotten Frontier: The Unsung Police Who Held Our PNG Front Line, page 28,
      Everyone started making suggestions as to what to do but they were all pretty ordinary ideas such as lighting a fire and hope someone would see the smoke and come to rescue us and so on.
    • 2010, Mal Bryce, Australia's First Online Community Ipswich Queensland, page 125,
      Since the general public gained access to the Internet in 1993-4, firstly by narrowband dial-up access and since 1998 by very ordinary, so-called broadband speeds (generally less than 1 Mbps), a social and cultural revolution has been underway.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

ordinary ‎(plural ordinaries)

  1. (obsolete) A devotional manual.
  2. (Christianity) A rule, or book of rules, prescribing the order of service, especially of Mass.
  3. A person having immediate jurisdiction in a given case of ecclesiastical law, such as the bishop within a diocese.
  4. (obsolete) A set portion of food, later as available for a fixed price at an inn or other eating establishment.
  5. (archaic or historical) A place where such meals are served; a public tavern, inn.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.2.4, 1847, page 315,
      We are most part too inquisitive and apt to hearken after news, which Cæsar, in his Commentaries, observes of the old Gauls, they would be inquiring of every carrier and passenger what they had heard or seen, what news abroad? […] as at an ordinary with us, bakehouse, or barber's shop.
    • 1712, Jonathan Swift, A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue, The Works of Jonathan Swift, Volume 2, page 288,
      Thus furnished, they come up to town, reckon all their errors for accomplishments, borrow the newest set of phrases ; and if they take a pen into their hands, all the odd words they have picked up in a coffeehouse, or a gaming ordinary, are produced as flowers of style.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Bancroft, 1899, Richard Garnett, Léon Vallée, Alois Brandl (editors), The Universal Anthology, page 320,
      He enjoyed a perpetual port duty of fourteen pence a ton, on vessels not owned in the province, yielding not far from five thousand dollars a year; and he exacted a tribute for licenses to hawkers and peddlers and to ordinaries.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p.1,
      it hath been usual with the honest and well-meaning host to provide a bill of fare which all persons may peruse at their first entrance into the house; and having thence acquainted themselves with the entertainment which they may expect, may either stay and regale with what is provided for them, or may depart to some other ordinary better accommodated to their taste.
  6. (heraldry) One of the standard geometric designs placed across the center of a coat of arms, such as a pale or fess.
  7. An ordinary thing or person; the mass; the common run.
    • 1622, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 3, Scene 5, 1800, The Plays of William Shakspeare, Volume 8, page 287,
      I ſee no more in you than in the ordinary / Of nature's ſalework.
    • a. 1626, Francis Bacon, quoted in 1773, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionnary of the English Language, unnumbered page,
      Spain had no other wars save those which were grown into an ordinary; now they have coupled therewith the extraordinary of the Valtoline and Palatinate.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Walter Scott
      water buckets, wagons, cart wheels, plough socks, and other ordinaries
  8. (historical) A penny-farthing bicycle.

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: shook · fit · distribute · #946: ordinary · forms · complete · access

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman ordenaire, ordenarie etc., from Latin ōrdinārius ‎(“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō ‎(“order”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/, /ˈɔːdənɹi/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/

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