AVERAGE

average, ordinary

(adjective) lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered; “average people”; “the ordinary (or common) man in the street”

average, intermediate, medium

(adjective) around the middle of a scale of evaluation; “an orange of average size”; “intermediate capacity”; “medium bombers”

average, mean

(adjective) approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value; “the average income in New England is below that of the nation”; “of average height for his age”; “the mean annual rainfall”

average, median(a)

(adjective) relating to or constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two in a set with an even number of values); “the median value of 17, 20, and 36 is 20”; “the median income for the year was $15,000”

average, modal(a)

(adjective) relating to or constituting the most frequent value in a distribution; “the modal age at which American novelists reach their peak is 30”

average, fair, mediocre, middling

(adjective) lacking exceptional quality or ability; “a novel of average merit”; “only a fair performance of the sonata”; “in fair health”; “the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average”; “the performance was middling at best”

average

(noun) an intermediate scale value regarded as normal or usual; “he is about average in height”; “the snowfall this month is below average”

average, norm

(noun) a statistic describing the location of a distribution; “it set the norm for American homes”

average

(noun) (sports) the ratio of successful performances to opportunities

average, average out

(verb) compute the average of

average

(verb) achieve or reach on average; “He averaged a C”

average, average out

(verb) amount to or come to an average, without loss or gain; “The number of hours I work per work averages out to 40”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

average (plural averages)

(mathematics) The arithmetic mean.

(legal, marine) Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss. [from 15th c.]

Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods.

Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense.

(sports) An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.

(UK, in the plural) In the corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.

Usage notes

• (mathematics, statistics): The term average may refer to the statistical mean, median or mode of a batch, sample, or distribution, or sometimes any other measure of central tendency. Statisticians and responsible news sources are careful to use whichever of these specific terms is appropriate. In common usage, average refers to the arithmetic mean. It is, however, a common rhetorical trick to call the most favorable of mean, median and mode the "average" depending on the interpretation of a set of figures that the speaker or writer wants to promote.

Coordinate terms

• (measure of central tendency): arithmetic mean, geometric mean, harmonic mean, mean, median, mode

Adjective

average (comparative more average, superlative most average)

(not comparable) Constituting or relating to the average.

Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category.

Typical.

(informal) Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor.

Synonyms

• (constituting or relating to the average): av, ave, avg, expectation (colloquial), mean

• (neither very good nor very bad): mediocre, medium, middle-ranking, middling, unremarkable, so-so, comme ci comme ça

• (typical): conventional, normal, regular, standard, typical, usual, bog-standard (slang)

• (not outstanding, not good; bad or poor): ordinary, uninspiring

Antonyms

• (neither very good nor very bad): extraordinary

Verb

average (third-person singular simple present averages, present participle averaging, simple past and past participle averaged)

(transitive) To compute the average of, especially the arithmetic mean.

(transitive) Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of.

(transitive) To divide among a number, according to a given proportion.

(intransitive) To be, generally or on average.

Etymology 2

Noun

average (plural averages)

(UK, legal, obsolete) The service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.

Source: Wiktionary

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Av"er*age, n. Etym: [OF. average, LL. averagium, prob. fr. OF. aver, F. avoir, property, horses, cattle, etc.; prop. infin., to have, from L. habere to have. Cf. F. avérage small cattle, and avarie (perh. of different origin) damage to ship or cargo, port dues. The first meaning was peAver, n., Avercorn, Averpenny.]

1. (OLd Eng. Law)

Definition: That service which a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the carriage of wheat, turf, etc.

2. Etym: [Cf. F. avarie damage to ship or cargo.] (Com.) (a) A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.] (b) Any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight of goods shipped. (c) A contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils. (d) The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or expense among all interested. General average, a contribution made, by all parties concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice. Kent.

– Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident; and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles damaged, or by their insurers.

– Petty averages are sundry small charges, which occur regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of lading, "primage and average accustomed," average means a kind of composition established by usage for such charges, which were formerly assessed by way of average. Arnould. Abbott. Phillips.

3. A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10.

4. Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity, quality, rate, etc. "The average of sensations." Paley.

5. pl.

Definition: In the English corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets. On an average, taking the mean of unequal numbers or quantities.

Av"er*age, a.

1. Pertaining to an average or mean; medial; containing a mean proportion; of a mean size, quality, ability, etc.; ordinary; usual; as, an average rate of profit; an average amount of rain; the average Englishman; beings of the average stamp.

2. According to the laws of averages; as, the loss must be made good by average contribution.

Av"er*age, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Averaged (p. pr. & vb. n. Averaging.]

1. To find the mean of, when sums or quantities are unequal; to reduce to a mean.

2. To divide among a number, according to a given proportion; as, to average a loss.

3. To do, accomplish, get, etc., on an average.

Av"er*age, v. i.

Definition: To form, or exist in, a mean or medial sum or quantity; to amount to, or to be, on an ~; as, the losses of the owners will average twenty five dollars each; these spars average ten feet in length.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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