Normals

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A set of values or standards that are accepted as typical or average for a group or situation
2. Referring to a condition or state that adheres to conventional expectations or practices
3. Describing characteristics that align with what is considered usual or standard in a given context

Etymology: The plural "normals" is the form used when a set of measurements or results is compared against a standard, as in "blood test normals." The singular "normal" descends from Latin "normālis," meaning "made according to a carpenter's square," from "nōrma," the square itself. For centuries the word described things that were perpendicular, forming a right angle, before Late Latin extended it to mean conforming to a rule. The modern sense is a surprisingly recent invention. In the 1800s, researchers began measuring things such as height, weight and blood pressure across whole populations. The most common values in those measurements came to be called "normal," and the term then drifted to cover anything considered healthy or desirable, whether or not it was actually usual. A word once tied to the builder's tool thus became a statistical label, and only later a moral one.

Synonyms: average people, standard individuals, typical persons, regulars

Antonyms: abnormals, outsiders, eccentrics, oddities, exceptional individuals