Meaning of 'average' (Webster Dictionary)
- Pertaining to an average or mean; medial; containing a
mean proportion; of a mean size, quality, ability, etc.; ordinary;
usual; as, an average rate of profit; an average amount of rain; the
average Englishman; beings of the average stamp.
- According to the laws of averages; as, the loss must be
made good by average contribution.
- That service which a tenant owed his lord, to be done by
the work beasts of the tenant, as the carriage of wheat, turf, etc.
- A tariff or duty on goods, etc.
- Any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight
of goods shipped.
- A contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed
upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils.
- The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or
expense among all interested.
- A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of
unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5
dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10.
- Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a
comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity,
quality, rate, etc.
- In the English corn trade, the medial price of the several
kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
- To form, or exist in, a mean or medial sum or quantity;
to amount to, or to be, on an average; as, the losses of the owners
will average twenty five dollars each; these spars average ten feet in
length.
- To find the mean of, when sums or quantities are
unequal; to reduce to a mean.
- To divide among a number, according to a given
proportion; as, to average a loss.
- To do, accomplish, get, etc., on an average.
Meaning of 'average' (Princeton's WordNet)
Meaning (1):
- an intermediate scale value regarded as normal or usual
Example in sentence:- he is about average in height;
- the snowfall this month is below average
Meaning (2):
- a statistic describing the location of a distribution
Example in sentence:- it set the norm for American homes
Meaning (3):
- achieve or reach on average
Meaning (4):
- amount to or come to an average, without loss or gain
Example in sentence:- The number of hours I work per work averages out to 40
Meaning (5):
- lacking exceptional quality or ability
Example in sentence:- a novel of average merit;
- in fair health;
- only a fair performance of the sonata;
- the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average;
- the performance was middling at best
Meaning (6):
- around the middle of a scale of evaluation
Example in sentence:- an orange of average size;
- intermediate capacity;
- medium bombers
Meaning (7):
- lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered
Example in sentence:- average people;
- the ordinary (or common) man in the street
Meaning (8):
- approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value
Example in sentence:- of average height for his age;
- the average income in New England is below that of the nation;
- the mean annual rainfall
Meaning (9):
- relating to or constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two in a set with an even number of values)
Example in sentence:- the median income for the year was $15,000;
- the median value of 17, 20, and 36 is 20
Meaning (10):
- relating to or constituting the most frequent value in a distribution
Example in sentence:- the modal age at which American novelists reach their peak is 30
Definition
[ a.]