routine

[ roo-teen ]

/ ruˈtin /

noun

a customary or regular course of procedure.

commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activity: the routine of an office.

regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, or rote procedure.

an unvarying and constantly repeated formula, as of speech or action; convenient or predictable response: Don't give me that brotherly-love routine!

Computers.

a complete set of coded instructions directing a computer to perform a series of operations.
a series of operations performed by the computer.

an individual act, performance, or part of a performance, as a song or dance, given regularly by an entertainer: a comic routine; a dance routine.

adjective

of the nature of, proceeding by, or adhering to routine: routine duties.

dull or uninteresting; commonplace.

Nearby words

routeman, routemarch, router, router patch, routh, routine, routineer, routing, routinism, routinize, roux

Origin of routine

1670–80; < French, derivative of route route

SYNONYMS FOR routine

8 habitual, ordinary, typical.

Related forms

rou·tine·ly, adverbrou·tine·ness, nounnon·rou·tine, adjective, nounun·rou·tine, adjective

un·rou·tine·ly, adverb

Can be confused

regular routine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for nonroutine

routine

/ (ruːˈtiːn) /

noun

a usual or regular method of procedure, esp one that is unvarying

computing a program or part of a program performing a specific functionan input routine; an output routine

a set sequence of dance steps

informal a hackneyed or insincere speech

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of routine

Derived Forms

routinely, adverb

Word Origin for routine

C17: from Old French, from route a customary way, route

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012