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 of or relating to a neutral salt in which any replaceable hydroxyl groups or hydrogen atoms have been replaced by other groups or atoms, as sodium sulfate, Na 2 SO 4 .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

/ nɔːˈmælɪtɪ, 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

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

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

So I went ahead and swapped my normal creams containing high amounts of glycerin, aloe and other plant-based ingredients for tallow-based alternatives for a two-week period.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Although they play a central role in diabetes, the new findings show that fat cells are also deeply involved in maintaining normal blood sugar control and metabolic health.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

"I'm a 20-year-old just going about university life. Getting calls from the police to tell me there isn't a terrorism risk isn't a normal experience."

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

Fans are flocking to normal digital presentations too, Phoenix Theatres president Cory Jacobson noted.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

Now Nils spoke in a low normal voice.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Waymo’s San Diego service area will include Pacific Beach, Normal Heights, La Playa and Southcrest, among other neighborhoods, the company said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

"We found that river CO2 emissions decline while carbon uptake through rock weathering increases as permafrost cover decreases," said Liwei Zhang, biogeochemist at East China Normal University.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026

Normal overnight services will resume on Friday, when the department reverts back to an A&E.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

Normal airline passengers within the bloc have to pay the taxes while the super rich escape them, they said.

From Barron's ● May 14, 2026

Normal people don’t have to decide what’s worth remembering.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Related Words

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