average

noun

(statistics) Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.

(mathematics) The arithmetic mean.

(law, marine) Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.

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

(dated) Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense.

(obsolete) Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods.

(UK, law, 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.

verb

(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.

adjective

(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.

Roots

awariyaaver- · Arabic · damaged goods, loss from sea damage -aticum-age · Latin · forming a noun

Synonyms for average

middlingadj mediocreadj ordinaryadj medianadj normn typicaladj normaladj unexceptionaladj mediumn unremarkableadj

Synonyms & related words for average

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of average — including middling, mediocre, ordinary, median, norm, typical. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to average

Explore words related to average — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include subaverage, averagely, middlingly, mediocrely, percentage, rate, percentile, percent. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for average

Common synonyms for average include middling, mediocre, ordinary, median, norm, typical, normal, unexceptional — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does average come from?

The word average breaks down into 2 roots of Arabic and Latin origin: aver, from Arabic awariya (“damaged goods, loss from sea damage”); and -age, from Latin -aticum (“forming a noun”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.