ordinary

OR-di-nair-ee/ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/UKOR-di-nuh-ree/ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/

19 meanings of ordinary

1
adjective
Normal and common, with nothing special about it.
Like a plain gray shirt that nobody really notices.
It was just an ordinary day, with nothing exciting going on.
She wore ordinary clothes and blended into the crowd.
Similarunremarkable, average, commonplace, plain, mundane
Oppositeextraordinary, remarkable, exceptional, special
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2
adjective
Happening in the usual, normal way.
We followed the ordinary steps to sign up for the class.
On an ordinary workday she leaves the office at five.
Similarnormal, usual, routine, customary, regular
Oppositeunusual, exceptional, extraordinary
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3
nouncountable or uncountable
A normal, common person or thing that is not special in any way.
Her photos turn the ordinary into something beautiful.
In the story, an ordinary stands beside the king, dressed plainly.
Similarcommonplace, everyday, mundane
Oppositeextraordinary
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4
noun
The part of a church service that stays the same no matter what day it is held.
The choir sang the ordinary at every Sunday Mass.
Parts of the ordinary do not change from week to week.
Oppositeproper
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5
nouncountable
A church official, like a bishop, who has direct power over a case in church law.
The ordinary granted permission for the new chapel to be built.
Each diocese has an ordinary who oversees church matters.
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6
nouncountable
A judge who can decide cases personally instead of passing them to someone else.
The ordinary heard the dispute himself rather than sending it on.
An ordinary can rule on a case without asking anyone else first.
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7
adjectivecolloquialAustraliaNew Zealand
Bad, or not good enough.
The food at that place was pretty ordinary, and we won't go back.
His effort in the game was ordinary at best.
Similarmediocre, poor, substandard, lackluster
Oppositeexcellent, outstanding
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8
nouncountable
A simple shape, like a band or a cross, used across a coat of arms.
A bold ordinary ran straight across the knight's shield.
The shield's main ordinary was a thick red band.
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9
nounhistoricalcountable
An old bicycle with one very large front wheel and a small back wheel.
He rode his ordinary down the lane, perched high above the big front wheel.
Learning to mount an ordinary took both nerve and balance.
Similarpenny-farthing
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10
nouncountable
A book of rules that sets out the order of a church service, especially the Mass.
The priest followed the ordinary to lead the Mass in the right order.
An ordinary tells the clergy how each part of the service should go.
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11
noundialectalIrelandScotland
The normal way things usually happen or are done.
Like a regular day where everything goes the way you expect.
Nothing that happened at work today was out of the ordinary.
After the long trip, she was glad to return to the ordinary.
Similarroutine, norm, usual
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12
adjective
Having legal power that belongs to an official position by itself.
Like a manager who can make decisions just because of the job, not because someone allowed it that one time.
A judge ordinary could decide such cases without any special permission.
The ordinary power of the office passed to the new bishop at once.
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13
nounhistoricalcountable
A meal served at a fixed price in an inn or eating house.
Like a set meal at a diner, where everyone pays the same price for the same plate.
He paid a few pennies for an ordinary at the roadside inn.
Here he recommended me to fix my board, there being an excellent ordinary daily at two o'clock, at which I might dine or not as I pleased.
1808, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian RakeHere, ordinary means a set-price meal served at a fixed time.
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14
noun
Another way of writing Ordinary, the unchanging parts of the Mass. Written with a small first letter.
The choir practiced the ordinary before the Sunday service.
On feast days the ordinary stays the same while other prayers change.
Oppositeproper
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15
nounarchaichistorical
A tavern or inn where meals were sold at a set price.
Like a small restaurant where people came to eat and meet up.
They met at the ordinary for supper and conversation.
I was at the Ordinary last fair day, and there was nothing else talked of.
1919, Stanley J. Weyman, “III. The Lawyer Abroad”Here, Ordinary means an inn or tavern serving meals at a fixed price.
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16
nounobsolete
A person's usual daily amount of food or other supplies.
Like the set amount of food each person is given every day.
Each soldier received his ordinary of bread and meat every day.
The servants complained that their ordinary had been cut short.
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17
nounobsolete
A book of prayers or rules telling people how to behave properly.
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18
nounobsolete
A messenger who carried letters and mail from place to place.
Like a mail carrier who brings letters to your door.
The ordinary arrived each week with letters from the capital.
They waited for the ordinary to bring news from abroad.
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19
nounhistoricalcountable
The priest at Newgate prison who helped prisoners get ready to die.
Like a prison priest whose job was to comfort people before the end.
The ordinary visited the condemned man in his cell the night before.
He died with pious composure and resolution. I have just seen the Ordinary that attended him.
1791, James Boswell, The Life of Samuel JohnsonHere, Ordinary means the prison chaplain who prepared people sentenced to death.
Similarchaplain
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Practice

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Origin

It comes from Latin ordinarius, meaning 'regular' or 'orderly', from ordo, meaning 'order'.