average English · revision 2561

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1491|origins=ar عَوَارِيَّة}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæv.ər.ɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration, after words in [[-age]] such as damage,^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) of earlier averay,^(AHD 2000) [[bor|frm|avarie|t=damage to ship or cargo; port dues]],^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from [[roa-oit|avaria]],^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) a word of 12th-century Mediterranean trade, of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) It is often traced to Arabic ʿawārīya “damaged merchandise”, from ʿawār “defect, damage”,^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) but Etymonline notes that the OED takes the Arabic word to be modern and itself derived from the western one.^(Etymonline) The OED called it a word that has received more etymological investigation than almost any other.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A duty or tax on goods, and the cost or loss from damage at sea: ''averag'', 1491,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or the late 15th century as a small charge over the freight, paid by the owners of goods to the ship's master.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The maritime sense developed to “the equitable sharing of a loss at sea among all the parties concerned”, from 1598;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) the Century Dictionary explains that owners of cargo or insurers contributed to the loss according to their ''average'', the proportionate value of their goods.^(Etymonline) The COED notes that the modern meaning arose from this sharing of liability.^(COED 2004) The transferred sense, a proportionate distribution of inequalities, is from 1735, and the arithmetic mean from 1755.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The batting average in cricket is from 1845.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The adjective is from 1770 and means “of medium character” by 1803;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) the verb “to amount to on average” is from 1769, and “to find the mean of” by 1831.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1491 – a duty on goods; a charge on shipping.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – the sharing of a loss at sea.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1735 – a proportionate distribution.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1755 – the arithmetic mean.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1769 – verb, to amount to on average.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1770 – adjective.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1845 – a cricket average.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A number that typifies a set of numbers, especially the [[arithmetic mean]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The usual or ordinary level, kind or quality.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # In sports, a ratio of successful performances to opportunities.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(law)'' The sharing of a loss at sea among those concerned.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or being an average.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Intermediate between extremes; ordinary, typical.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To calculate the average of.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To do or have on average.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To divide proportionately; to work out evenly: ''average out''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[averagely]]

+ * [[averageness]]

+ * [[averageable]]

+ * [[subaverage]]

+ * [[underaverage]]

+ * [[unaveraged]]

+ * [[batting average]]

+ * [[earned run average]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mean]]

+ * [[median]]

+ * [[damage]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two older words of the same spelling are unrelated: a feudal service owed by a tenant with draught animals, from Medieval Latin ''averagium'',^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)^(OED 1989) and a northern dialect word for the stubble pasture of cornfields after harvest, recorded from 1537 and also called ''averish''.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898)^(SOED 2002) The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''average'' with ''medium'', ''mediocre'', ''fair'' and ''middling''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}