ordinary

noun

1. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
2. (obsolete)A person with authority; authority, ordinance.

   “I […] will lay to till you come within hail […] but pray respond by the first ordinary.”

3. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
4. (historical)A person with authority; authority, ordinance.

   “He died with pious composure and resolution. I have just seen the Ordinary that attended him.”

5. (obsolete)Something ordinary or regular.
6. (historical)Something ordinary or regular.

   “In short, Mr. Jolter could give a very good account of the stages on the road, and […] was a connoisseur in ordinaries, from twelve to five and thirty livres […].”

   “Here he recommended me to fix my board, there being an excellent ordinary daily at two o'clock, at which I might dine or not as I pleased.”

7. (archaic, historical)Something ordinary or regular.

   “Vpon feſtiuall daies he goes to Court, and ſalutes vvithout re-ſaluting: at night in an Ordinarie he confeſſeth the buſineſſe in hand, and ſeemes as converſant vvith all intents and plots, as if he begot them.”

   “We are most part too inquisitive and apt to hearken after news, which Cæsar, in his Commentaries, observes of the old Gauls, they would be inquiring of every carrier and passenger what they had heard or seen, what news abroad? […] as at an ordinary with us, bakehouse, or barber's shop.”

   “Thus furnished, they come up to town, reckon all their errors for accomplishments, borrow the newest set of phrases ; and if they take a pen into their hands, all the odd words they have picked up in a coffeehouse, or a gaming ordinary, are produced as flowers of style.”

   “He enjoyed a perpetual port duty of fourteen pence a ton, on vessels not owned in the province, yielding not far from five thousand dollars a year; and he exacted a tribute for licenses to hawkers and peddlers and to ordinaries.”

   “it hath been usual with the honest and well-meaning host to provide a bill of fare which all persons may peruse at their first entrance into the house; and having thence acquainted themselves with the entertainment which they may expect, may either stay and regale with what is provided for them, or may depart to some other ordinary better accommodated to their taste.”

8. Something ordinary or regular.
9. Something ordinary or regular.

   “Spain had no other wars save those of the Low Countries, which were grown into an ordinary”

   “water-buckets, waggons, cart-wheels, plough-socks, shuttles, candlesticks, and other ordinaries”

10. (Ireland, Scotland)Something ordinary or regular.

    “I ſee no more in you than in the ordinary / Of nature's ſalework.”

11. (historical)Something ordinary or regular.
12. Something ordinary or regular.
13. (alt-of)Something ordinary or regular.
14. (obsolete)A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
15. (especially)A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
16. The part of the Roman Catholic Mass that is the same every day

adj

1. Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases.
2. Being part of the natural order of things; normal, customary, routine.

   “On an ordinary day I wake up at nine o'clock, work for six hours, and then go to the gym.”

   “Method is not leſs requiſite in ordinary converſation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himſelf underſtood.”

   “The three were now assembled in the old banqueting-hall, which, from its state of better preservation, had become their ordinary chamber.”

3. Having no special characteristics or function; everyday, common, mundane; often deprecatory.

   “I live a very ordinary life most of the time, but every year I spend a week in Antarctica.”

   “He looked so ordinary, I never thought he'd be capable of murder.”

   “a. 1859, Thomas Macaulay, "Samuel Johnson," in 1871, Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay Trevelyan, editor), The Works of Lord Macaulay Complete, Volume 7, page 325, An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way: but much that was dull to ordinary lads was interesting to Samuel.”

   “It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.”

   “You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf.”

4. (Australia, New-Zealand, colloquial, informal)Bad or undesirable.

   “1983 September 20, Bruce Stannard, Australia II Joins Our Greats, The Age, republished 2003, David Headon (editor), The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing: A 200 Year Collection, page 480, It was, in some ways a sad, almost pathetic sight to see this great American boat which had fought so hard throughout the cup summer, now looking very ordinary indeed.”

   “Everyone started making suggestions as to what to do but they were all pretty ordinary ideas such as lighting a fire and hope someone would see the smoke and come to rescue us and so on.”

   “Since the general public gained access to the Internet in 1993-4, firstly by narrowband dial-up access and since 1998 by very ordinary, so-called broadband speeds (generally less than 1 Mbps), a social and cultural revolution has been underway.”