regular

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman reguler, Middle French reguler, regulier, and their source, Latin rēgulāris (“continuing rules for guidance”), from rēgula (“rule”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“move in a straight line”).

• (UK) enPR: reʹgyo͝olər IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɡjʊlə/
• (US) enPR: reʹgyələr, reʹgyələr, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɡjəlɚ/, /ˈɹɛɡl̩ɚ/, [ˈɹɛɡjɪ̈lɚ], [ˈɹɛɡl̩ɚ]

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɛɡjʊlə(ɹ), -ɛɡjələ(ɹ), -ɛɡələ(ɹ)
• (US) Hyphenation: reg‧u‧lar

regular (comparative more regular, superlative most regular)

1. (Christianity) Bound by religious rule; belonging to a monastic or religious order (often as opposed to secular). [from 14th c.]

   regular clergy, in distinction from the secular clergy

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, page 201:

     A quarter of a million strong in 1680, the clergy was only half as large in 1789. The unpopular regular clergy were the worst affected.

2. Having a constant pattern; showing evenness of form or appearance. [from 15th c.]
3. (geometry, of a polygon) Both equilateral and equiangular; having all sides of the same length, and all (corresponding) angles of the same size [from 16th c.]
4. (geometry, of a polyhedron) Whose faces are all congruent regular polygons, equally inclined to each other.
5. Demonstrating a consistent set of rules; showing order, evenness of operation or occurrence. [from 16th c.]
   • 2011, AL Kennedy, The Guardian, 12 Apr 2011:

     April may be the cruellest month, but I am planning to render it civilised and to take my antibiotics in a regular manner.

6. (now rare) Well-behaved, orderly; restrained (of a lifestyle etc.). [from 16th c.]
7. Happening at constant (especially short) intervals. [from 17th c.]

   He made regular visits to go see his mother.

8. (grammar, of a verb, plural, etc) Following a set or common pattern; according to the normal rules of a given language. [from 17th c.]

   The verb "to walk" is regular.

9. (chiefly US) Having the expected characteristics or appearances; normal, ordinary, standard. [from 17th c.]
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

10. (chiefly military) Permanently organised; being part of a set professional body of troops. [from 17th c.]
11. Having bowel movements or menstrual periods at constant intervals in the expected way. [from 18th c.]

    Maintaining a high-fibre diet keeps you regular.

    • 2015, Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island (page 206)

      Gulls cawed and wheeled overhead, dropping splatty white cluster bombs on rooftops and pavements. Goodness knows what those gulls eat, but it certainly keeps them regular.

12. (colloquial) Exemplary; excellent example of; utter, downright. [from 18th c.]

    a regular genius; a regular John Bull

13. (botany, zoology) Having all the parts of the same kind alike in size and shape.

    a regular flower; a regular sea urchin

14. (crystallography) Isometric.
15. (snowboarding) Riding with the left foot forward.
16. (mathematical analysis, not comparable, of a Borel measure) Such that every set in its domain is both outer regular and inner regular.

• (unvarying, steady, uniform): equable
• (with constant frequency): uniform
• (normal): normal
• (grammar): weak (verbs)
• (frequent): steady

• (with constant frequency): irregular
• (normal): irregular
• (obeying rules): irregular
• (grammar): irregular, strong (verbs)
• (snowboarding): goofy

• (snowboarding): switch

regular (not comparable)

1. (archaic, Britain, dialectal) Regularly, on a regular basis.
   • 1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner, London: Penguin Books, published 1967, page 131:

     'And if the knowledge wasn'y well come by, why, you might ha' made up for it by coming to church reg'lar.'

regular (plural regulars)

1. A member of the British Army (as opposed to a member of the Territorial Army or Reserve).
2. A frequent, routine visitor to an establishment.

   Bartenders usually know their regulars by name.

3. A frequent customer, client or business partner.

   This gentleman was one of the architect's regulars.

4. (Canada) A coffee with one cream and one sugar.
5. Anything that is normal or standard.
   • 2011, Jamie MacLennan, ZhaoHui Tang, Bogdan Crivat, Data Mining with Microsoft SQL Server 2008

     You separate the marbles by color until you have four groups, but then you notice that some of the marbles are regulars, some are shooters, and some are peewees.

6. A member of a religious order who has taken the three ordinary vows.
7. A number for each year, giving, added to the concurrents, the number of the day of the week on which the Paschal full moon falls.
8. A fixed number for each month serving to ascertain the day of the week, or the age of the moon, on the first day of any month.

• (routine visitor): frequenter, habitué, patron, usual suspects

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

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular (epicene, plural regulares)

1. regular
2. fine, OK, average

• regularidá

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāre, present active infinitive of rēgulō. Compare the doublet reglar, borrowed earlier from the same source.

regular (first-person singular indicative present regulo, past participle reguláu)

1. to regulate

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /rə.ɡuˈla/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /re.ɡuˈlaɾ/
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular (masculine and feminine plural regulars)

1. regular (having a constant pattern)

   Antonym: irregular

2. normal, average
3. (geometry) regular (both equilateral and equiangular)

   Antonym: irregular

• regularitat
• regularment

• irregular
• regla

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāre, present active infinitive of rēgulō.

regular (first-person singular present regulo, past participle regulat)

1. (transitive) to regulate

• regulador

• regulació

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

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨɣuˈlaɾ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeɡuˈla(ʁ)/

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular m or f (plural regulares, comparable)

1. regular
2. average

• irregular
• regularmente

Borrowed from Latin rēgulō. Compare the doublet regrar, borrowed earlier from the same source.

regular (first-person singular present indicative regulo, past participle regulado)

1. to regulate
2. to tune (an engine)
3. to set (a watch, clock)

• IPA^(key): /reɡuˈlaɾ/, [reɣuˈlaɾ]

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular (plural regulares)

1. regular, steady, even
2. fair, fairly good, average
3. common, ordinary, middling, so-so
4. (grammar) regular

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāre, present active infinitive of rēgulō.

regular (first-person singular present regulo, first-person singular preterite regulé, past participle regulado)

1. to regulate
2. to control
3. to adjust
4. to put in order