ordinary

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/ UK /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/ See IPA manual

Freq #2366

Meanings

1

adj
Normal and not special in any way; everyday.

It was just an ordinary day at work.
2

adj
Not especially good; plain or unremarkable.

The food was fine but rather ordinary.
3

noun
The usual or normal state of things.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about his behaviour.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · normal and not special in... common everyday average

2 adj · not especially good; plain... mediocre middling

Word family

Derived forms infraordinaryintra-ordinaryintraordinarynonordinaryonryordinarily ordinarinessordinarityordinaryshipornerysubordinarysuperordinary

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

ordinary person
a typical member of the public, not famous or exceptional

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

*h₂er- Proto-Indo-European ordenarie xno ordinaire Middle French ordinarius la-med ōrdinārius Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# ordinary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/
**Frequency rank:** 2366

## Meanings
1. Normal and not special in any way; everyday.
2. Not especially good; plain or unremarkable.
3. The usual or normal state of things.

## Examples
- It was just an ordinary day at work.
- The food was fine but rather ordinary.
- There was nothing out of the ordinary about his behaviour.

## Derived Forms
- infraordinary
- intra-ordinary
- intraordinary
- nonordinary
- onry
- ordinarily
- ordinariness
- ordinarity
- ordinaryship
- ornery
- subordinary
- superordinary

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂er-
- Root: ordenarie
- Root: ordinaire
- Root: ordinarius
- Root: ōrdinārius

## Etymology
From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

## AI Etymology
Ordinary comes from Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”). The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-, xno ordenarie, Middle French ordinaire, la-med ordinarius, and Latin ōrdinārius. Modern senses include normal and not special in any way; everyday and not especially good; plain or unremarkable. The wider word family includes derivatives such as infraordinary, intra-ordinary, intraordinary, nonordinary, onry, and ordinarily.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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