Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ordinary” come from?

Ordinary comes from Old French ordenaire, meaning "customary" or "usual."

ordinary (English): "A person with authority; authority, ordinance.";...

Definitions

  1. "A person with authority; authority, ordinance.";...

Ancestry of “ordinary”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-NormanordenarieAlternative form of ordinaire

Words derived from “ordinary”

  • ordinarily
  • ordinariness
  • nonordinary
  • unordinary
  • superordinary
  • subordinary
  • ordinarity
  • unordinariness
Every word from Anglo-Norman ordenarie →