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(), a.[L. ordinarius, fr. ordo, ordinis, order: cf. F. ordinaire. See Order.] 1. According to established order; methodical; settled; regular. "The ordinary forms of law." Addison. 2. Common; customary; usual. Shak. Method is not less reguisite in ordinary conversation that in writing. Addison. 3. Of common rank, quality, or ability; not distinguished by superior excellence or beauty; hence, not distinguished in any way; commonplace; inferior; of little merit; as, men of ordinary judgment; an ordinary book. An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way. Macaulay. Ordinary seaman (Naut.), one not expert or fully skilled, and hence ranking below an able seaman. Syn. -- Normal; common; usual; customary. See Normal. -- Ordinary, Common. A thing is common in which many persons share or partake; as, a common practice. A thing is ordinary when it is apt to come round in the regular common order or succession of events. Or"dinary n.; pl. Ordinaries (-rz). 1. (Law) (a) (Rom. Law) An officer who has original jurisdiction in his own right, and not by deputation. (b) (Eng. Law) One who has immediate jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical; an ecclesiastical judge; also, a deputy of the bishop, or a clergyman appointed to perform divine service for condemned criminals and assist in preparing them for death. (c) (Am. Law) A judicial officer, having generally the powers of a judge of probate or a surrogate. 2. The mass; the common run. [Obs.] I see no more in you than in the ordinary Of nature's salework. Shak. 3. That which is so common, or continued, as to be considered a settled establishment or institution. [R.] Spain had no other wars save those which were grown into an ordinary. Bacon. 4. Anything which is in ordinary or common use. Water buckets, wagons, cart wheels, plow socks, and other ordinaries. Sir W. Scott. 5. A dining room or eating house where a meal is prepared for all comers, at a fixed price for th スポンサード リンク
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