normality

American  

[nawr-mal-i-tee] / nɔrˈmæl ɪ ti /

noun

normalities plural

1. conformity to the standard, typical, or average level, rate, condition or set of conditions, characteristics, behavior, etc..

   Any assumption of a quick return to normality and business as usual is premature.

   Surprising as it may sound, simple changes to your bed and lifestyle could prove to be the difference between severe pain and normality.

2. Chemistry. the concentration of a solution relative to that of a normal solution, one that contains one equivalent weight of the solute per liter.

   Since gram equivalent weight is the measure of the reactive capacity of a molecule, the solute's role in the reaction determines the solution's normality.

3. Statistics. the fact or property of showing a frequency distribution representable by a normal curve, a symmetrical bell-shaped curve.

   To confirm the statistical validity of the model I ran a number of diagnostics, checking for observations of influences and for normality of the distribution.

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Etymology

Origin of normality

First recorded in 1830–40; normal ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does normality compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• normalcy vs. normality

Explanation

When something happens that shakes up your life, you probably look forward to a return to normality, meaning the usual happenings of everyday life. To correctly pronounce normality, accent the second syllable and rhyme it with gal: "nor-MAL-ity." When you look at normality, you notice the word normal, which describes something that meets common standards. The suffix -ity means "the state of being," so normality refers to a state that is normal, something that is just as expected. Normality and normalcy are synonyms, the later associated with President Warren G. Harding, who during a speech used normalcy instead of the more common normality.

Example Sentences

Normality is gone and crisis has become permanent.

From Reuters • Aug. 23, 2022

Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives have published a paper, Back to Normality, about how the country can move on from "blanket legal restrictions" to "personal responsibility and protecting the vulnerable".

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2022

Normality alternates with a routine order of things that’s been flipped on its head.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2017

In Normality, Peter Cryle and Elizabeth Stephens further the conversation about normality instigated in the twentieth century by philosophers Georges Canguilhem and Michel Foucault, then expanded by race studies, queer theory and disability rights.

From Nature

Normality, Boyce threw a rock into the hole but it was never heard hitting the bottom.

From Scorched Earth by Petrovic, Walter D.

Related Words

• ordinariness
• uniformity