average meaning and definition

AVERAGE noun

Definition of average (noun)

1. a statistic describing the location of a distribution
   • "it set the norm for American homes"
   • synonyms: norm
2. (sports) the ratio of successful performances to opportunities
3. an intermediate scale value regarded as normal or usual
   • "he is about average in height"; "the snowfall this month is below average"

AVERAGE verb

Definition of average (verb)

1. amount to or come to an average, without loss or gain
   • "The number of hours I work per work averages out to 40"
   • synonyms: average out
2. achieve or reach on average
   • "He averaged a C"
3. compute the average of
   • synonyms: average out

AVERAGE adjective

Definition of average (adjective)

1. approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value
   • "the average income in New England is below that of the nation"; "of average height for his age"; "the mean annual rainfall"
   • synonyms: mean
2. lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered
   • "average people"; "the ordinary (or common) man in the street"
   • synonyms: ordinary
3. lacking exceptional quality or ability
   • "a novel of average merit"; "only a fair performance of the sonata"; "in fair health"; "the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average"; "the performance was middling at best"
   • synonyms: fair, mediocre, middling
4. around the middle of a scale of evaluation
   • "an orange of average size"; "intermediate capacity"; "medium bombers"
   • synonyms: intermediate, medium
5. relating to or constituting the most frequent value in a distribution
   • "the modal age at which American novelists reach their peak is 30"
   • synonyms: modal
6. relating to or constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two in a set with an even number of values)
   • "the median value of 17, 20, and 36 is 20"; "the median income for the year was $15,000"
   • synonyms: median