# regular

Pronunciation: US say "REG-yuh-lur" /ˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/; UK say "REG-yuu-luh" /ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.lə(ɹ)/

## Adjective

1. Of the ordinary kind, with nothing special, extra, or unusual about it; normal or standard. *(US)*
   - Simple: Normal and ordinary, just the usual kind you would expect.
   - _She lives a regular life with a steady job and a quiet home._
   - _The diner serves regular coffee unless you ask for decaf._
2. Happening again and again with the same, often short, gap in between; evenly spaced in time.
   - Simple: Happening again and again with the same gap of time between each one.
   - _The patient receives regular checkups every three months._
   - _Trains arrive at regular intervals throughout the day._
3. Of a person: habitually and frequently doing a particular thing or going to a particular place.
   - Simple: Doing a certain thing or going to a certain place often, as a habit.
   - _As a regular customer, he knew every waiter in the diner by name._
   - _Regular users of the trail have complained about the broken signs._
4. Being the usual one for a particular person; the one they normally go to, use, or do rather than another.
   - Simple: Usual for a certain person: the one they normally use, go to, or do.
   - _She skipped her regular Saturday run because of the storm._
   - _When his regular barber retired, he tried three shops before finding one he liked._
11. Even and orderly; following a consistent pattern in form, arrangement or rhythm.
   - Simple: Even and neat, following the same pattern all the way through.
   - _Her breathing settled into a regular rhythm as she fell asleep._
   - _The waves broke on the shore in a slow, regular pattern all night._
7. Employed on a permanent, ongoing basis, rather than temporarily, casually, or only from time to time.
   - Simple: Working in a job that lasts, not only for a short time or now and then.
   - _Contract workers do not receive the health benefits offered to regular employees._
   - _The paper relies on freelancers because it can no longer afford many regular reporters._
9. Of an army or troops: kept up permanently as a professional force, rather than raised only when needed.
   - Simple: Belonging to a country's full-time, professional army.
   - _Regular soldiers were deployed alongside reservists during the crisis._
   - _The country maintains a small but well-equipped regular army._
12. Following a language's usual patterns or rules without exceptional changes.
   - Simple: Following the normal rules of a language, with no special changes.
   - _Spanish has many regular verbs that follow predictable conjugation patterns._
   - _A regular noun simply adds an -s to become plural._
13. In geometry: of a polygon, having all sides and all angles equal; of a solid, having identical regular faces, with the same number meeting at every corner.
   - Simple: In geometry, having all sides the same length and all corners the same size.
   - _A regular hexagon has six equal sides and six equal angles._
   - _Equilateral triangles are the simplest regular polygons._
14. Having bowel movements or menstrual periods at constant, expected intervals.
   - Simple: Having bowel movements or periods that come at the same times, as expected.
   - _A diet rich in fiber and water helps most people stay regular._
   - _She tracked her cycle for months to confirm it was regular._
16. Serving as an intensifier before a noun, marking someone or something as a true, complete, or downright example of a type. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used before a word to mean a true or complete example of it.
   - _The new recruit turned out to be a regular hero during the rescue._
   - _Their backyard has become a regular zoo with all those animals._
18. Of a snowboarder or skater: riding with the left foot leading.
   - Simple: Riding a board with your left foot in front.
   - _She rides regular, leading with her left foot down the slope._
   - _Most beginners find a regular stance easier than goofy._
19. Belonging to a monastic or religious order and bound by its rule, as distinguished from secular clergy.
   - Simple: Living under the rules of a religious order, like monks or nuns.
   - _The regular clergy lived in monasteries under a strict rule._
   - _He joined a regular order rather than becoming a parish priest._
21. Of a plant or animal, having every part of any one kind, such as a flower's petals, matching in size and shape.
   - Simple: Having parts of the same kind that are alike in size and shape.
   - _Roses produce regular flowers with evenly matched petals._
   - _A regular corolla shows the same shape repeated around its center._
23. Of a ring, von Neumann regular, so that every left module over it is flat.
   - Simple: In advanced math, describing a ring over which every related module is flat.

## Noun

5. A person who often goes to the same place or uses the same business, such as a customer of a bar, shop or restaurant.
   - Simple: Someone who often goes to the same place, like a shop, bar or gym.
   - _He became a regular at the gym, showing up every single morning._
   - _The pub's regulars always sat at the same worn table._
6. Someone who normally plays for a team or appears in a show or series, as opposed to appearing only occasionally.
   - Simple: A person who usually plays for a team or is usually in a show, not just sometimes.
   - _He started as a guest star and was made a regular in the third season._
   - _With several first-team regulars injured, the coach had to call up young players._
8. Something that is normal or standard; the usual version.
   - Simple: Something that is the normal or standard type.
   - _When asked which size she wanted, she chose the regular._
   - _The menu offers a small, a regular, and a large._
15. A full-time, professional member of the armed forces or police, as opposed to a reservist, volunteer or national serviceman.
   - Simple: A soldier or police officer who does the job full-time, not part-time or just for a short required period.
   - _The squad was staffed entirely by regulars rather than volunteers._
   - _Every regular in the battalion had served for at least six years, while the reservists had only trained on weekends._
17. A cup of coffee served with one cream and one sugar. *(Canada)*
   - Simple: A coffee that has one cream and one sugar put in it.
   - _Ask for a regular and you get one cream, one sugar; ask for a double-double and you get two of each._
   - _Trying to cut back on sugar, she gave up her daily double-double and started ordering a regular instead._
20. Someone who belongs to a religious order and has taken its three customary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
   - Simple: A member of a religious order, like a monk, nun, or friar, who has taken the three main vows.
   - _As a regular, the friar answered first to the head of his order rather than to the local bishop._
   - _As a regular, he owed obedience to his abbot rather than to a bishop._

## Adverb

10. Regularly; habitually or at recurring intervals. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Often and at the same times, in a steady and repeated way.
   - _She writes to her sister regular, every Sunday without fail._
   - _He comes by regular to check on the old farm._

## Adjective

22. Well-behaved and orderly; restrained, as of a person's lifestyle. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Calm, orderly, and well-behaved in the way someone lives.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Of a moon or satellite: orbiting relatively close to its planet in a prograde direction, with little tilt or eccentricity.
- (adjective) Of a crystal, belonging to the cubic or isometric system, with three equal axes meeting at right angles.
- (adjective) Of a measure: both outer regular and inner regular on every set in its domain.
- (adjective) Of a local ring: Noetherian, with the smallest number of generators of its maximal ideal equal to the ring's Krull dimension.
- (adjective) Of a variety or scheme: locally Noetherian and having a regular local ring at every point.
- (noun) In calendar reckoning, a number assigned to each year that, added to the concurrents, gives the weekday on which the Paschal full moon falls.
- (noun) In old calendar reckoning, a set number assigned to each month and used to work out the weekday, or the moon's age, on the month's first day.

## Origin

From Middle English reguler, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Middle French from Latin rēgulāris ("following rules for guidance"), from rēgula ("rule"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "move in a straight line."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/regular (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).