norm
noun
a standard, model, or pattern.
norm
1 American
[nawrm]
/ nɔrm /
noun
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norms
plural
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a standard, model, or pattern.
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general level or average.
Two cars per family is the norm in most suburban communities.
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a behavior pattern or trait considered typical of a particular social group.
The patients regained the norms of everyday life after their hospitalization.
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Sociology. a pattern or standard of behavior expected of each member of a social group.
In many countries, cultural norms result in women bearing primary responsibility for childcare.
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Education.
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a designated standard of average performance of people of a given age, background, etc.
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a standard based on the past average performance of a given individual.
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Mathematics.
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a real-valued, nonnegative function whose domain is a vector space, with properties such that the function of a vector is zero only when the vector is zero, the function of a scalar times a vector is equal to the absolute value of the scalar times the function of the vector, and the function of the sum of two vectors is less than or equal to the sum of the functional values of each vector. The norm of a real number is its absolute value.
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the greatest difference between two successive points of a given partition.
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Norm.
2
American
abbreviation
norm
1
British
/ nɔːm /
noun
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an average level of achievement or performance, as of a group or person
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a standard of achievement or behaviour that is required, desired, or designated as normal
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sociol an established standard of behaviour shared by members of a social group to which each member is expected to conform
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maths
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the length of a vector expressed as the square root of the sum of the square of its components
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another name for mode
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geology the theoretical standard mineral composition of an igneous rock
Norm.
2
British
abbreviation
Norm
3
British
/ nɔːm /
noun
norm.
4
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of norm
First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin norma “carpenter's square, rule, pattern”
Explanation
A statistical average is called the norm. If you live in a town made up mostly of farmers but your trade is basket weaving, then you're outside the norm. The noun norm is from the Latin word norma, which was a carpenter's square or pattern used in construction to make regular corners. Now we use norm for anything that sets a standard. You can score within the norm on a standardized test, score above the norm on an IQ test, or fall below the norm in acceptable standards of dress if you wear a halter top and cut-off jeans to a formal ball.
Vocabulary lists containing norm
"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Divergent
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
During the day, shoppers had to queue up for bag searches - a custom that Ervine grew up believing was the norm.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
She is already the highest-rated woman in England, and the sight of her toppling much older and more experienced men and women has become the norm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The British former stunt coordinator has been at the forefront of intimacy coordinators becoming an industry norm for more than a decade now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
If anything, they’re starting to feel like the norm.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026
And it really has been a nice deviation from the norm.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
“I grew up with Uncle Norm. He told people that he changed my diapers, and I said, Uncle Norm — I was 3 years old!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025
“Oh Norm. Please tell me this is not true.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 15, 2021
"Our thoughts are with all of Norm’s friends and family today and… Thank you so much for the laughs, Norm. We’ll never, ever forget them."
From Fox News ● Sep. 15, 2021
“Oh my God what is even happening. Good bye, Norm. You were never not 100% hilarious.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2021
The S. door is late Norm., its red colour being due to fire; in the upper corner of the porch traces of stone stairs are visible.
From Somerset by G. W. Wade
Lawyers Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin said in a statement Friday that the case "should never have been brought."
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
Private-equity firms have also explored the possibility of backing AI-driven law firms, with Blackstone, for instance, investing in legal startup Norm Ai.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
"The thought that Norm will no longer be there for significant family moments breaks my heart."
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Norm Eisen: People don’t want to hear about Locke and Burke and John Rawls.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
She almost always forgot about Norm the Bear, but that was okay.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
“In the I.E., it’s really the norm. We’re singing in Spanish, we’re proud. But when we tour, we see it’s not like that everywhere,” Campos said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
“That’s not necessarily a bearish call, but just the norm. Since 1950, 10%+ corrections have occurred 0.8 times per year on average.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025
"This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences," Walz said.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025
"In these early epochs, the amount of gas around galaxies is so large that continuous star formation is the norm. But in this galaxy this process is not happening."
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2024
“The pandemic has changed that norm. And so we were trying to figure out what does that mean for us going forward?”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 3, 2023
An executive at one of the Big Five publishers said they made the decision not to add specific contractual language on AI, given the rapidly evolving landscape, and that norms differ across imprints and editors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Economic pressures and changing social norms are driving couples in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria to have fewer babies, with a recent study saying Maghreb fertility was at a historic low.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Daily retail net buying of single stocks remains at its lowest level since 2020, according to Vanda Research, with the 21-day average sitting well below recent norms.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Chintalapalli views Amazon and Microsoft as value plays because both companies boast durable economic moats and strong earnings power while trading at reasonable discounts compared with their historical norms and peer group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Like any explosion of modernity, outsourcing is challenging traditional norms and ways of life.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
