different between usual vs run-of-the-mill

English

Alternative forms

• (shortening, informal) (no fixed spelling) uzhe, uzh, yoozh

Etymology

From Middle English usual, from Old French usuel, from Latin ?su?lis (“for use, fit for use, also of common use, customary, common, ordinary, usual”), from ?sus (“use, habit, custom”), from the past participle stem of ?t? (“to use”). Displaced native Old English ?ewunel??.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ju????l/, /?ju???l/
• Hyphenation: u?su?al

Adjective

usual (comparative more usual, superlative most usual)

1. Most commonly occurring; typical.

   The preference of a boy to a girl is a usual occurrence in some parts of China.

   It is becoming more usual these days to rear children as bilingual.

Synonyms

• wonted, normal, common, standard, regular, ordinary, plain, simple, typical

Antonyms

• unusual, abnormal, atypical

Derived terms

Related terms

• usuality

Translations

Noun

usual (uncountable)

1. The typical state of something, or something that is typical.
2. (colloquial) A specific good or service (e.g. a drink) that someone typically orders.

   I'll just have the usual.

Usage notes

Sometimes colloquially shortened to the first syllable (IPA^(key): /ju??/), an overwhelmingly spoken-only slang word with no single widely accepted spelling (see uzhe).

Further reading

• usual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• usual in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• luaus

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin ?su?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

usual (epicene, plural usuales)

1. common, typical, usual

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin ?su?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /u.zu?al/

Adjective

usual (masculine and feminine plural usuals)

1. usual

   Antonym: inusual

Derived terms

• inusual
• usualment

Further reading

• “usual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “usual” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “usual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “usual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin ?su?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

usual m or f (plural usuais)

1. usual, regular, normal

Derived terms

• usualmente

Further reading

• “usual” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• usuel, usualle, usuale, usuell, usuall

Etymology

From Old French usuel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iu?ziu??a?l/, /iu?zu?a?l/, /?iu?ziu?al/, /?iu?zual/, /?iu?zu?l/

Adjective

usual

1. customary, established
2. usual, normal, regular

Descendants

• English: usual
• Scots: usual, uswal, eeswal

References

• “?su??l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.

Piedmontese

Alternative forms

• üsual

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y?z?al/

Adjective

usual

1. usual

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin ?su?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /uzu?aw/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /u?zwa?/

Adjective

usual m or f (plural usuais, comparable)

1. usual (most commonly occurring)

   Antonym: inusual

Derived terms

• inusual
• usualmente

Related terms

• usar
• uso

Further reading

• “usual” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin ?su?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u?swal/, [u?swal]
• Hyphenation: u?sual

Adjective

usual (plural usuales)

1. usual

   Antonym: inusual

Derived terms

• inusual
• usualmente

Further reading

• “usual” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Alternative forms

• run of the mill
• run-o’-the-mill, run o’ the mill

Etymology

From 1922; from the fact that product produced by a mill should be uniform and like that of any other similar run.

Adjective

run-of-the-mill (comparative more run-of-the-mill, superlative most run-of-the-mill)

1. (figuratively) Ordinary; not special.

   This isn’t your run-of-the-mill refrigerator; you’ll find the extra features well worth the price.

   • 1971 November 30, Martin Lapidus, Class Notes: 62, Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 72, page 26,

     The other had the most run-of-the-mill news which make some of my recent run-of-the-mill columns appear like the raciest escapist fare.

   • 1989, Punch, page 55,

     For a deeper, less familiar philosophy, you have to listen to your more run-of-the-mill dossers, and they don't come more run-of-the-mill than Ratso.

   • 1995, Alain Mérot, French Painting in the Seventeenth Century, page 42,

     In one side of the prestigious commissions, public and private, sacred and profane, which could make the name of an artist, there was a more run of the mill style of painting which already enjoyed a vast clientéle at all levels of society.

   • 2001, Gabrielle Lord, Death Delights, 2002, unnumbered page,

     Or even more run-of-the-mill murders which usually turn out to be family or business affairs and where someone's usually heard something or, in the case of the more professional killings, someone wants to do a deal.

Antonyms

• (ordinary): cream of the crop

Translations

See also

• common-or-garden (standard)