standard

B1 Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈstændɚd/ UK /ˈstændəd/ See IPA manual

Freq #3100

Meanings

1

noun
A level of quality used to judge how good something is.

The hotel offers a high standard of service.
2

adj
Normal, usual, or commonly used.

This is the standard size for office paper.
3

adj
Accepted as correct by educated speakers of a language.

The book is written in standard English.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a level of quality used to... criterion

2 adj · normal, usual, or commonly... stock

3 adj · accepted as correct by... received

More acceptable accepted accustomed book canonical classic consistent conventional customary definitive desired established

Opposites

atypicalnon-standardnonstandard off special

Word family

Forms standards

Derived forms bog-standardindustry-standardmalstandardmore-standardmultistandardnanostandardprestandardsemistandardstandard-bearerstandard-likestandard-sizestandard-sized

Related forms valid

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

standard atmosphere
a conventional unit of pressure equal to 101,325 pascals

Adjective + noun

Idioms (2)

See all

gold standard
the best or most reliable example of its kind
bog standard
completely ordinary, with no special features (British, informal)

Simplified etymology

Standard comes from Old French estendre, meaning to extend, and originally denoted a flag raised on a pole as a military rallying point. The royal standard later represented authority and principles. Separate late medieval uses referred to fixed scales of weights and measures and to established levels of quality or quantity.

Etymology

From Middle English standard, from Old French estandart (“gathering place, battle flag”), from Frankish *standahard (literally “stand firm, stand hard”), equivalent to stand + -ard. An alternative etymology derives the second element from Frankish *oʀd (“point, spot, place”) (compare Old French ordé (“pointed”), Old English ord (“point, source, vanguard”), German Standort (“location, place, site, position, base”, literally “standing-point”)). Merged with Middle English standar, stander, standere (“flag, banner”, literally “stander”), equivalent to stand + -er. More at stand, hard, ord. As a hi…

standard Middle English estandart Old French *standahard frk *oʀd frk standar Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas

External links

# standard

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈstændɚd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈstændəd/
**Frequency rank:** 3100

## Meanings
1. A level of quality used to judge how good something is.
2. Normal, usual, or commonly used.
3. Accepted as correct by educated speakers of a language.

## Examples
- The hotel offers a high standard of service.
- This is the standard size for office paper.
- The book is written in standard English.

## Synonyms
- acceptable
- accepted
- accustomed
- book
- canonical
- classic
- consistent
- conventional
- customary
- definitive
- desired
- established

## Antonyms
- atypical
- non-standard
- nonstandard
- off
- special

## Derived Forms
- bog-standard
- industry-standard
- malstandard
- more-standard
- multistandard
- nanostandard
- prestandard
- semistandard
- standard-bearer
- standard-like
- standard-size
- standard-sized

## Related Forms
- valid

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: standard
- Root: estandart
- Root: *standahard
- Root: *oʀd
- Root: standar

## Etymology
From Middle English standard, from Old French estandart (“gathering place, battle flag”), from Frankish *standahard (literally “stand firm, stand hard”), equivalent to stand + -ard. An alternative etymology derives the second element from Frankish *oʀd (“point, spot, place”) (compare Old French ordé (“pointed”), Old English ord (“point, source, vanguard”), German Standort (“location, place, site, position, base”, literally “standing-point”)). Merged with Middle English standar, stander, standere (“flag, banner”, literally “stander”), equivalent to stand + -er. More at stand, hard, ord. As a hi…

## AI Etymology
Standard is from Middle English standard, from Old French estandart (“gathering place, battle flag”), from Frankish *standahard (literally “stand firm, stand hard”), equivalent to stand + -ard. An alternative etymology derives the second element from Frankish *oʀd (“point, spot, place”) (compare Old French ordé (“pointed”), Old English ord (“point, source, vanguard”), German Standort (“location, place, site, position, base”, literally “standing-point”)). Merged with Middle English standar, stander, standere (“flag, banner”, literally “stander”), equivalent to stand + -er.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

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