Average

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈæv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. A typical or normal amount, degree, or quality calculated by adding values together and dividing by the total number
2. A general or mean value that represents a common measure derived from a collection of quantities by summing them and dividing by their count
3. A representative level or standard obtained by summing values and dividing by their number, often used to illustrate general trends

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "average" is that its oldest English sense had nothing to do with arithmetic. In English it first meant a customs duty, a charge paid on goods carried by sea. The word came into English from Middle French "avarie", meaning damage to a ship or its cargo, which in turn traces back to Old Italian "avaria", first recorded in the 12th century in the context of Mediterranean trade. The exact origin is uncertain. Most sources connect the Italian word to Arabic "ʿawāriyya", meaning "damaged goods", from a root meaning fault or defect, while the Oxford English Dictionary instead proposes a Romance derivation from Italian "avere", meaning property or goods. Either way, the word's earliest sense was practical and concerned with losses at sea. The arithmetic sense developed as the idea of sharing out losses fairly spread. Losses were distributed proportionally among the parties who owned the cargo, so the word came to mean a rateable share of a loss, and from there a mean or typical value. The ending "-age" was likely added in English by analogy with words like "damage".

Synonyms: mean, median, norm

Antonyms: exceptional, unusual