■ adjective
1》 with no distinctive features; normal or usual.
↘not interesting or exceptional.
2》 (of a judge, archbishop, or bishop) exercising authority by virtue of office and not by deputation.
■ noun ( plural ordinaries )
1》 Law, Brit. a judge exercising authority by virtue of office and not by deputation.
2》 ( the Ordinary ) a clergyman, such as an archbishop in a province or a bishop in a diocese, with immediate jurisdiction.
3》 ( Ordinary ) those parts of a Roman Catholic service, especially the Mass, which do not vary from day to day.
↘a rule or book laying down the order of divine service.
4》 Heraldry any of the simplest principal charges used in coats of arms.
5》 archaic a meal provided at a fixed time and price at an inn.
6》 historical, chiefly N. Amer. a penny-farthing bicycle.
Phrases
in ~ Brit. (in titles) by permanent appointment, especially to the royal household.
out of the ~ unusual.
Derivatives
ordinarily adverb
ordinariness noun
Origin
ME: the noun partly via OFr.; the adjective from L. ordinarius 'orderly', from ordo , ordin- 'order'.