# ordinary

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɔːdɪnəɹi/ · frequency rank #3,517

## Definitions
1. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
2. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
3. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
4. A person with authority; authority, ordinance.
5. Something ordinary or regular.
6. Something ordinary or regular.
7. Something ordinary or regular.
8. Something ordinary or regular.
9. Something ordinary or regular.
10. Something ordinary or regular.
11. Something ordinary or regular.
12. Something ordinary or regular.
13. Something ordinary or regular.
14. A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.
15. A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.

## Etymology
From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

## Easily confused with
- **ordinate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ordinary-vs-ordinate)
- **ordinal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ordinal-vs-ordinary)
- **ordinarily** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ordinarily-vs-ordinary)

## Common misspellings (12)
`odrinary`, `orddinary`, `ordianry`, `ordinarry`, `ordinaryy`, `ordinayr`, `ordinnary`, `ordinray`, `ordniary`, `oridnary`, `orrdinary`, `rodinary`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ordinary