# routine

Pronunciation: say "roo-TEEN" /ɹuːˈtiːn/

## Noun

1. A course of action that is followed regularly; a standard procedure or way of doing things.
   - Simple: A set way of doing things that you follow again and again.
   - _After the move, it took weeks to settle into a new routine._
   - _The clinic follows a strict routine for admitting and discharging patients._
2. A set of normal procedures, often performed mechanically and without much conscious thought.
   - Simple: The normal steps you go through, often without really thinking about them.
   - _Screening bags at the airport had settled into mindless routine for the staff._
   - _He handled the paperwork as a matter of routine, stamping each form without reading it._
6. A set piece of an entertainer's act, practiced in advance and performed the same way each time.
   - Simple: A planned part of a show that a performer does the same way each time.
   - _The magician saved his most famous routine for the end of the show._
   - _The duo's comedy routines relied on quick back-and-forth timing._
7. A set of instructions within a program designed to perform a specific task, also called a subroutine.
   - Simple: A set of instructions inside a computer program that does one job.
   - _The error came from a routine that handles file uploads._
   - _Developers reuse common routines instead of writing the same code twice._
8. A performance of a planned sequence of gymnastic movements on one of the apparatus.
   - Simple: A planned set of moves that a gymnast performs on one piece of equipment.
   - _Her beam routine earned the highest score of the night._
   - _Judges compare routines from every competitor before posting the final scores._

## Adjective

3. Happening or performed regularly as a matter of habit; forming part of an established pattern.
   - Simple: Happening or done regularly, as a normal part of daily life.
   - _She kept up her routine morning swim even while traveling._
   - _The committee's routine monthly meetings rarely lasted more than an hour._
4. Done or carried out according to an established procedure rather than for any special reason.
   - Simple: Done by following the normal steps that an organization always uses.
   - _The inspection was strictly routine, required of every restaurant once a year._
   - _Border agents asked the routine questions about the purpose of her trip._
5. Ordinary and unremarkable, with nothing to distinguish it from all the others of its kind.
   - Simple: Ordinary and not special or interesting in any way.
   - _Critics dismissed the album as routine, competent but never surprising._
   - _What began as a routine flight turned dramatic when the storm rolled in._

## Origin

This is an unadapted borrowing from French "routine." By surface analysis, it breaks down into "route" plus the suffix "-ine."

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