Ordinaires

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Referring to things or people that are common, usual, or not remarkable in any distinctive way; describing items or individuals typical of everyday life without special distinction; indicating something characterized by its normality or average nature
2. Denoting elements or persons that are considered standard, prevalent, or lacking uniqueness; pertaining to what is widely accepted as normal or customary in appearance, behavior, or quality; suggesting ordinariness without exceptional features
3. Characterizing subjects that do not stand out due to common traits or routine qualities; relating to what is conventional and frequently encountered in ordinary circumstances; expressing the idea of being regular and habitual without extraordinary aspects

Etymology: "Ordinaires" is the plural form of "ordinaire," which English borrowed directly from French, where it was an adjective meaning "usual" or "regular." Its deeper root is Latin "ōrdō," meaning "row," "rank," or "order," the same word that gave English "order" itself. The Latin derivative "ōrdinārius" meant "belonging to a regular rank or order," and that sense of being arranged in a standard sequence carried into French and then English, where "ordinary" came to mean typical or unremarkable. The shift from "orderly" to "unremarkable" is the real story here. A thing that belonged to its proper rank was simply where it was supposed to be, and so it became the normal case against which everything else was judged. Over time, the standard became the baseline, and the baseline became the dull and unexceptional.

Synonyms: ordinaries, commoners

Antonyms: nobles, aristocrats