average

Meanings

Noun

• The arithmetic mean.
• Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
• Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
• Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods.
• Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense.
• An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.
• In the corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
• The service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.

Adjective

• Constituting or relating to the average.
• Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category.
• Typical.
• Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor.

Verb

• To compute the average of, especially the arithmetic mean.
• Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of.
• To divide among a number, according to a given proportion.
• To be, generally or on average.

Related

Similar words

• av., ave., avg., expectation , mean
• mediocre, medium, middle-ranking, middling, unremarkable, so-so, comme ci comme ça
• conventional, normal, regular, standard, typical, usual, bog-standard
• ordinary, uninspiring

Opposite words

• extraordinary

Origin

• From Middle French avarie, from Old French avarie, from Old Italian avaria (which is possibly from Arabic عَوَارِيَّة ("damaged goods"), from عَوَار, from عَوِرَ) + English suffix -age.
• From Middle English average, from Medieval Latin averagium, from aver from Old English eafor from aferian; + -age.