normal
[nawr-muh l]
- conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
- serving to establish a standard.
- Psychology.
- approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.
- free from any mental disorder; sane.
- Biology, Medicine/Medical.
- free from any infection or other form of disease or malformation, or from experimental therapy or manipulation.
- of natural occurrence.
- Mathematics.
- being at right angles, as a line; perpendicular.
- of the nature of or pertaining to a mathematical normal.
- (of an orthogonal system of real functions) defined so that the integral of the square of the absolute value of any function is 1.
- (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.
- (of a subgroup) having the property that the same set of elements results when all the elements of the subgroup are operated on consistently on the left and consistently on the right by any element of the group; invariant.
- Chemistry.
- (of a solution) containing one equivalent weight of the constituent in question in one liter of solution.
- pertaining 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.
- of or relating to a neutral salt in which any replaceable hydroxyl groups or hydrogen atoms have been replaced by other groups or atoms, as sodium sulfate, Na2SO4.
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- the average or mean: Production may fall below normal.
- the standard or type.
- Mathematics.
- 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.
- the portion of this perpendicular line included between its point of contact with the curve and the x-axis.
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Origin of normal
Normal
[nawr-muh l]
- a city in central Illinois.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
natural, traditional, orderly, regular, routine, ordinary, typical, healthy, whole, reasonable, cool, well-adjusted, commonplace, average, median, general, standard, mean, sound, rightExamples from the Web for normal
Contemporary Examples
Something like fluoride, which is too small for normal filters, yanks away that feeling of agency.
He appears only normal, even in video footage from just two minutes before the shooting.
The flight path remained close to the Indonesian archipelago, well within what is the normal reach of air traffic control radar.
Six months of sterility results, after which normal fertility returns.
Normal procedure is that any member country can request that a document be circulated, and the UN does it pro-forma.
Exclusive: Sony Emails Say Studio Exec Picked Kim Jong-Un as the Villain of ‘The Interview’William Boot
December 19, 2014
Historical Examples
Our supreme task is the resumption of our onward, normal way.
I don't believe there is a healthy, normal man living who has not his dream.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
And this energy is utilized at one-half the normal engine speed.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
Egyptian history is too troublesome, anyhow, for a normal man to grasp.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
Slowly the light in the schooner descended to its normal position.
The Inn at the Red OakLatta Griswold
normal
- usual; regular; common; typicalthe normal way of doing it; the normal level
- constituting a standardif we take this as normal
- psychol
- being within certain limits of intelligence, educational success or ability, etc
- conforming to the conventions of one's group
- biology med (of laboratory animals) maintained in a natural state for purposes of comparison with animals treated with drugs, etc
- chem (of a solution) containing a number of grams equal to the equivalent weight of the solute in each litre of solventSymbol: N
- chem denoting a straight-chain hydrocarbon: a normal alkane . Prefix: n-, e.g. n- octane
- geometry another word for perpendicular (def. 1)
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- the usual, average, or typical state, degree, form, etc
- anything that is normal
- 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
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin normālis conforming to the carpenter's square, from norma norm
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
Word Origin and History for normal
adj.
c.1500, "typical, common;" 1640s, "standing at a right angle," from Late Latin normalis "in conformity with rule, normal," from Latin normalis "made according to a carpenter's square," from norma "rule, pattern," literally "carpenter's square" (see norm). Meaning "conforming to common standards, usual" is from 1828, but probably older than the record [Barnhart].
As a noun meaning "usual state or condition," from 1890. Sense of "normal person or thing" is from 1894. Normal school (1834) is from French école normale (1794), a republican foundation. The city of Normal, Illinois, U.S., was named 1857 for the normal school established there.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
normal
(nôr′məl)- Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical.
- Functioning or occurring in a natural way; lacking observable abnormalities or deficiencies.
- Occurring naturally and not because of disease, inoculation, or any experimental treatment. Used of immunity.
- Of, relating to, or being a solution having one gram equivalent weight of solute per liter of solution.
- Of, relating to, or being an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a straight and unbranched chain of carbon atoms.
- Of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development.
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- The usual or the expected state, form, amount, or degree.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.