adj. & n.
adj. 1 a regular, normal, customary, usual (in the ordinary course of events). b boring; commonplace (an ordinary little man). 2 Brit. Law (esp. of a judge) having immediate or ex officio jurisdiction, not deputed.
n. (pl. -ies) 1 Brit. Law a person, esp. a judge, having immediate or ex officio jurisdiction. 2 (the Ordinary) a an archbishop in a province. b a bishop in a diocese. 3 (usu. Ordinary) RC Ch. a those parts of a service, esp. the mass, which do not vary from day to day. b a rule or book laying down the order of divine service. 4 Heraldry a charge of the earliest, simplest, and commonest kind (esp. chief, pale, bend, fess, bar, chevron, cross, saltire). 5 (Ordinary) (also Lord Ordinary) any of the judges of the Court of Session in Scotland, constituting the Outer House. 6 esp. US hist. an early type of bicycle with one large and one very small wheel; a penny-farthing. 7 Brit. hist. a a public meal provided at a fixed time and price at an inn etc. b an establishment providing this. 8 US a tavern. in ordinary Brit. by permanent appointment (esp. to the royal household) (physician in ordinary). in the ordinary way if the circumstances are or were not exceptional. ordinary level Brit. hist. the lowest of the three levels of the GCE examination. ordinary scale = decimal scale. ordinary seaman a sailor of the lowest rank, that below able-bodied seaman. ordinary shares Brit. shares entitling holders to a dividend from net profits (cf. preference shares). out of the ordinary unusual. ordinarily adv. ordinariness n.
[ ME f. L ordinarius orderly (as ORDER) ]