Etymologically
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irregular

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.lə/[1]
  • US: /ɪˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English irreguler,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French irreguler (“irregular; incapable, incompetent”),[5][6][7][8] now irrégulier,[6][3] from Medieval Latin irrēgulāris (“not regular”),[5][6][9] which Barnhart and Dictionary.com place in Late Latin.[8][10] It is formed from ir-, the assimilated form of in- (“not”), and rēgulāris (“having rules, pertaining to rules”),[6][8][5] the source of regular.[6][8] The OED cites the Old French word from the 13th century;[5][6] in Anglo-Norman the word, meaning disqualified from ordination or from clerical office, is recorded from 1267.[11] Dictionary.com takes the modern English form as a borrowing from Late Latin that replaced the Middle English one.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the language of the Church, not in conformity with the rule of the Church or of a religious order, and so disqualified from ordination or from clerical office: c. 1380, in Wyclif;[5] Barnhart and the Middle English Dictionary have it about 1390 in Chaucer's Parson's Tale, of a simonist priest.[8][2][12]

Semantic evolution

Of people, the word came to mean not obedient to rule, law or moral principle, lawless or disorderly, from 1395.[5] The general sense, of things not in conformity with rule or with what is usual, is recorded from 1483;[5][6] that of not being symmetrical or evenly shaped, from 1584;[5][6] and that of happening at unequal intervals, from 1608.[5] Technical uses followed: in grammar, of words not inflected in the usual way, from 1611, in Cotgrave;[5] in mathematics from 1700;[5] in botany and zoology from 1785;[5] and of variable stars from 1797.[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "deviating from rule, custom, or nature".[13] The noun, someone who does not belong to a regular body or follow its rules, dates from the 1610s,[6] and its main modern sense, a soldier who is not part of a regular army, from 1747;[6] the OED records the adjective of such troops from 1856.[5] Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary's remark that the word states only a departure from rule, yet is sometimes used in a sinister sense, as a euphemism for something worse.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – not in conformity with the rule of the Church; disqualified for ordination.[5]
  • c. 1390 – in Chaucer's Parson's Tale.[8][2]
  • 1395 – of people, lawless, disorderly.[5]
  • 1483 – of things, contrary to rule, not normal.[5][6]
  • 1584 – not symmetrical; uneven in shape or arrangement.[5]
  • 1608 – occurring at unequal intervals.[5]
  • 1611 – grammar, not inflected in the usual way.[5]
  • 1610s – noun, one not belonging to a regular body.[6]
  • 1747 – noun, a soldier not of the regular army.[6]
  • 1797 – of variable stars.[6]
  • 1856 – of troops not in the regular army.[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not even or balanced in shape or arrangement; lacking symmetry: an irregular coastline.
  2. Not happening at regular or equal intervals: an irregular heartbeat.
  3. Not in keeping with accepted rules, customs or moral principles; improper: irregular payments to an official.
  4. (grammar) Not following the usual pattern of inflection or formation, as went for the past of go.
  5. (military) Of troops, not belonging to a country's regular army.
  6. (botany) Of a flower, having petals or other parts of different shapes or sizes.
  7. (Roman Catholic Church) Barred by an impediment from receiving or exercising holy orders.

Noun

  1. A soldier who is not a member of a regular force, such as a guerrilla; usually in the plural.
  2. irregulars: goods with flaws, sold more cheaply than standard ones.

Word family

  • irregularly
  • irregularity
  • irregular galaxy

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  12. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.