What does "normal" mean?

1. (usual or expected) usual, typical, or expected under ordinary circumstances. 2. (healthy or sane) healthy in mind and body; not suffering from any illness or mental health issues. 3. (perpendicular) meeting a surface or line at a right angle (90 degrees). 4. (chemical concentration) a specific way of measuring how much of a substance is in a liquid. 5. (the usual state) the usual or average situation or condition. 6. (a mainstream person) a person who fits into mainstream society and does not have unusual habits.

normal — meaning, definition & examples

Word

01usual or expected

A2 · Elementary

adj. usual, typical, or expected under ordinary circumstances.

adj. conforming to a standard, pattern, or expected level of performance or behaviour.

“It is normal to feel a little nervous before you give a presentation.”

“Under normal operating conditions, the cooling system maintains a constant temperature without requiring manual intervention from the staff.”

Synonyms

usual typical standard

Antonyms

abnormal unusual strange

02healthy or sane

B1 · Intermediate Medicine

adj. healthy in mind and body; not suffering from any illness or mental health issues.

adj. functioning within the expected range of physical or psychological health.

“The doctor said my test results were normal and I have nothing to worry about.”

“The patient exhibited normal cognitive function during the assessment, showing no signs of the memory loss reported by his family.”

Synonyms

healthy sane well

Antonyms

ill morbid

03perpendicular

C1 · Advanced Mathematics Technical

adj. meeting a surface or line at a right angle (90 degrees).

adj. perpendicular to a tangent of a curve or a tangent plane of a surface.

“The normal force acts directly upward from the surface of the table.”

“The incident ray of light is measured relative to the normal line drawn at the point of contact with the mirror.”

Synonyms

perpendicular orthogonal

Antonyms

parallel

04chemical concentration

C2 · Proficiency Science Technical

adj. a specific way of measuring how much of a substance is in a liquid.

adj. relating to a solution containing one equivalent weight of solute per litre of solution.

“The chemist prepared a normal solution for the titration experiment.”

“The laboratory protocol required a 1.0 normal hydrochloric acid solution to ensure the reaction reached completion within the specified timeframe.”

05the usual state

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. the usual or average situation or condition.

n. the usual, average, or expected state or condition; often used in the phrase 'back to normal'.

“After the long holiday, it took a few days for life to return to normal.”

“The city struggled to establish a new normal in the aftermath of the flood, as many businesses remained closed for months.”

Synonyms

standard average routine

Antonyms

anomaly

06a mainstream person

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Informal · Slang

n. a person who fits into mainstream society and does not have unusual habits.

n. a person who conforms to mainstream social standards, often used in contrast to those with alternative lifestyles.

“He tries to act like a normal, but his friends know how quirky he really is.”

“The subculture often viewed 'normals' with a mix of pity and disdain, seeing their conventional lives as boring and predictable.”

Synonyms

conformist

Antonyms

eccentric outsider

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “normal” in context.

01. normal conditions 02. normal levels 03. normal part 04. concurrent normal 05. normal mode 06. normal procedure 07. normal vision 08. random normal

From Latin normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square; later: according to a rule”), from nōrma (“carpenter's square”), of uncertain origin; doublet of normale. The earliest meaning of the word in English was "perpendicular; forming a right angle" like something normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square”), but by Late Latin normālis had also come to mean "according to a rule", from which modern English senses of the word derive: in the 1800s, as people began to quantitatively study things like height, weight and blood pressure, the usual or most common values came to be called "normal", and by extension values regarded as healthy or desirable came to be called "normal" regardless of their usuality.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

NOUN

ADJECTIVE

normal(A2)

ADVERB