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• normal
  normal

  adjective

  conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
• Normal
  Normal

  noun

  a city in central Illinois.

normal

¹ American  

[nawr-muhl] / ˈnɔr məl /

adjective

1. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

2. serving to establish a standard.

3. Psychology.

   1. approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.

   2. free from any mental disorder; sane.

4. Biology, Medicine/Medical.

   1. free from any infection or other form of disease or malformation, or from experimental therapy or manipulation.

   2. of natural occurrence.

5. Mathematics.

   1. being at right angles, as a line; perpendicular.

   2. of the nature of or relating to a mathematical normal.

   3. (of an orthogonal system of real functions) defined so that the integral of the square of the absolute value of any function is 1.

   4. (of a topological space) having the property that corresponding to every pair of disjoint closed sets are two disjoint open sets, each containing one of the closed sets.

   5. (of a set) having the property that the same set results when all the elements of the set are operated on consistently on the left and consistently on the right by any element of the set; invariant.

6. Chemistry.

   1. (of a solution) containing one equivalent weight of the constituent in question in one liter of solution.

   2. relating to an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a straight unbranched carbon chain, each carbon atom of which is joined to no more than two other carbon atoms.

   3. of or relating to a neutral salt in which any replaceable hydroxyl groups or hydrogen atoms have been replaced by other groups or atoms, as sodium sulfate, Na 2 SO 4 .

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noun

1. the standard or the common type.

2. the usual state, amount, level, etc., especially the average or mean.

   Production may fall below normal.

3. Mathematics.

   1. a perpendicular line or plane, especially one perpendicular to a tangent line of a curve, or a tangent plane of a surface, at the point of contact.

   2. the portion of this perpendicular line included between its point of contact with the curve and the x- axis.

Normal ² American  

[nawr-muhl] / ˈnɔr məl /

noun

1. a city in central Illinois.

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normal British  

/ ˈnɔːməl /

adjective

1. usual; regular; common; typical

   the normal way of doing it

   the normal level

2. constituting a standard

   if we take this as normal

3. psychol

   1. being within certain limits of intelligence, educational success or ability, etc

   2. conforming to the conventions of one's group

4. biology med (of laboratory animals) maintained in a natural state for purposes of comparison with animals treated with drugs, etc

5. N. chem (of a solution) containing a number of grams equal to the equivalent weight of the solute in each litre of solvent

6. chem denoting a straight-chain hydrocarbon: a normal alkane . Prefix: n-, e.g. n- octane

7. geometry another word for perpendicular

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noun

1. the usual, average, or typical state, degree, form, etc

2. anything that is normal

3. geometry a line or plane perpendicular to another line or plane or to the tangent of a curved line or plane at the point of contact

Other Word Forms

• normality
  noun
• normalness
  noun
• antinormal
  adjective
• half-normal
  adjective
• hypernormal
  adjective
• nonnormal
  adjective
• overnormal
  adjective
• quasi-normal
  adjective
• seminormal
  adjective
• unnormal
  adjective
• quasi-normally
  adverb
• seminormally
  adverb
• unnormally
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of normal

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin normālis “made according to a carpenter's square,” equivalent to norm(a) ( see norm) + -ālis adjective suffix; see -al ¹

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Explanation

If something conforms to a general pattern, standard, or average, we describe it as normal, but of course that standard can change over time. What's normal today may be "abnormal" in the future. The word normal comes from a Latin word normalis, which described something made with a carpenter's square. Something built this way would be normed to have angles that were perfectly aligned and fit a general pattern. This meaning eventually gave us the broader sense of fitting a pattern, standard, or average. Doctors like you to be a normal weight for your height, so you may need to grow taller to make your doctor happy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

normal Normal

Under normal operating conditions, the graphite moderator slows fast neutrons, helping sustain the nuclear chain reaction.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026

In the case of a filing, operations are expected to continue as normal, the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

“On a normal day, a decent-size move is a few basis points,” Tipp said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

In fact, Shameson said, remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms have reached Southern California the last three or four years in a row, compared with a normal pace of every five to 10 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

The thirteen-year age difference between Maggie and Elisha was normal for a courting couple of their time, but Philadelphia society gossiped due to their class difference.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Faber said the ban meant it could not legally pass on royalties earned in the UK to Rooney, whose best-sellers including "Normal People" and "Intermezzo" have earned her praise as the "voice of a generation".

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

This was the network that commissioned Normal People, Fleabag, Killing Eve - programmes of quality and wide appeal.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

The company expects eventually to increase annual production capacity at its plant in Normal, Ill., to 215,000 vehicles, adding potentially another 300,000 in capacity through its plant in Stanton Springs, Ga.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

An independent producer who saw the show flew Walters to Virginia to star in a three-minute video trailer for a novel called Torn From Normal.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

In the United States, music education developed around a method of instruction, the Normal Music Course, the remnants of which are adhered to even today in music classrooms.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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Related Words

• natural
• orderly
• ordinary
• regular
• routine
• traditional
• typical

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