1. Commonly encountered; usual. See synonyms at common.
2. 1. Of no exceptional ability, degree, or quality; average.
   2. Of inferior quality; second-rate.
3. Having immediate rather than delegated jurisdiction, as a judge.
4. Mathematics. Designating a differential equation containing no more than one independent variable.

1. The usual or normal condition or course of events: Nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
2. Law.
   1. A judge or other official with immediate rather than delegated jurisdiction.
   2. The judge of a probate court in some states of the United States.
3. often Ordinary Ecclesiastical.
   1. The part of the Mass that remains unchanged from day to day.
   2. A division of the Roman Breviary containing the unchangeable parts of the office other than the Psalms.
   3. A cleric, such as the residential bishop of a diocese, with ordinary jurisdiction over a specified territory.
4. Heraldry. One of the simplest and commonest charges, such as the bend and the cross.
5. Chiefly British.
   1. A complete meal provided at a fixed price.
   2. A tavern or an inn providing such a meal.

[Middle English ordinarie, from Old French, from Latin ōrdinārius, from ōrdō, ōrdin-, order.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.