Usuals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Being commonly seen or occurring in everyday life
2. Representing the standard or typical items or practices that are regularly encountered
3. Referring to those habits or norms that are generally expected in a given context

Etymology: "Usuals" is the plural of the noun "usual," which in its sense of a regular order, drink, or set of standard items is a straightforward extension of the adjective. The adjective came into English from Old French "usuel," itself drawn from Latin "ūsuālis," meaning "for use" or "customary." That Latin root goes back to "ūsus," "use, habit, custom," the stem of "ūtī," "to use," which gives English a whole family of words connected to employing things. English once had its own word for the idea. Middle English "usual" displaced the native Old English "ġewunelīċ," a word built on the same notion of habitual custom, so the Latin borrowing largely won out. The plural noun is the adjective used as a substantive, meaning the things that are regularly encountered, rather than a separate word with its own history.

Synonyms: regulars, habituals, customaries

Antonyms: unusuals, exceptions