average
/ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.16 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
noun
Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
noun
A financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
noun
An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.
adj
Constituting or relating to the average.
Example Sentences
- "You need to show some averages in an executive summary, show some samples of raw data in the document body, and move the full raw data to an appendix."
- "In conclusion, it may savour of anticlimax to mention that from May 22 the famous "Sud Express," over the same route, has been covering the 359.7 miles from Paris Austerlitz to Bordeaux in 4 hr. 59 min. daily, at a start-to-stop average of 72.2 m.p.h., and that the northbound train has been taking 5 hr. 7 min. for an average of 70.3."
- "The average of 10, 20 and 24 is (10 + 20 + 24)/3 = 18."
- "But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short."
- "Historically, the courts have allowed a general average claim only where the loss occurred as a result of the ship being in immediate peril.[…]The court awarded the carrier the general average claim. It noted that “a ship′s master should not be discouraged from taking timely action to avert a disaster,” and need not be in actual peril to claim general average."
- "batting average"
Etymology
Etymology tree Arabic عَوَار (ʕawār) Proto-Afroasiatic Proto-Semitic Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy) Proto-Afroasiatic *-t Proto-Semitic *-at- Arabic ـَة (-a) Arabic ـِيَّة (-iyya) Arabic عَوَارِيَّة (ʕawāriyya)bor.? Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habēre Old Italian avére Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -iader. Old Italian -ìa ? Old Italian avariabor. Old French avarie Middle French avarie Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English average Not entirely certain. The oldest meaning in English is “customs duty”. Borrowed from Middle French avarie (“damage to ship or cargo”), from Old French avarie, from Old Italian avaria where it is first attested in the 12th century in the context of Mediterranean trade. From there most sources trace it to Arabic عَوَارِيَّة (ʕawāriyya, “damaged goods”), from عَوَار (ʕawār, “fault, blemish, defect, flaw”), from عَوِرَ (ʕawira, “to lose an eye”), but the OED gives it a Romance derivation from Italian avere (“property, goods”) or the like. The English suffix -age was added in analogy to words like damage.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: avarie, avaria, عَوَارِيَّة, avere, average, averagium
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
- British English: /ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
averages (plural)
more average (comparative)
most average (superlative)
av. (abbreviation)
ave. (abbreviation)
avg. (abbreviation)
averages (present, singular)
averaging (participle, present)
averaged (participle, past)
averaged (past)