average

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noun

av·er·age ˈa-v(ə-)rij

: a single value (such as a mean, mode, or median) that summarizes or represents the general significance of a set of unequal values

: mean sense 1b

: an estimation of or approximation to an arithmetic mean

: a level (as of intelligence) typical of a group, class, or series

above the average

: a ratio expressing the average performance especially of an athletic team or an athlete computed according to the number of opportunities for successful performance

a batting average

average

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adjective

: equaling an arithmetic mean

: being about midway between extremes

a man of average height

: not out of the ordinary : common

on an average day

the average person

averagely adverb

averageness noun

average

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verb

averaged; averaging

intransitive verb

: to be or come to an average

The gain averaged out to 20 percent.

: to have a medial value of

colors that average to gray

: to buy on a falling market or sell on a rising market additional shares or commodities so as to obtain a more favorable average price

—usually used with down or up

transitive verb

: to do, get, or have on the average or as an average sum or quantity

averages 12 hours of work a day

: to find the arithmetic mean of (a series of unequal quantities)

: to bring toward the average

: to divide among a number according to a size, number, or amount that is directly related to or appropriate for something

average a loss

Phrases

on average or on the average

: taking the typical example of the group under consideration

Prices have increased on average by five percent. [=the average increase has been five percent]

Did you know?

The word average came into English from Middle French avarie, a derivative of an Arabic word meaning “damaged merchandise.” Avarie originally meant damage sustained by a ship or its cargo, but came to mean the expenses of such damage. When the English borrowed the word, they altered it to conform to the pattern of words ending in -age. When a ship or its cargo was damaged at sea, the owners or insurers shared the expense, or average. An average-adjuster determined a division of costs among them. An average then became any equal distribution or division, like the determination of an arithmetic mean. Soon the arithmetic mean itself was called an average. Now the word may be applied to any mean or middle value or level.

Choose the Right Synonym for average

average, mean, median, norm mean something that represents a middle point.

average is the quotient obtained by dividing the sum total of a set of figures by the number of figures.

scored an average of 85 on tests

mean may be the simple average or it may represent value midway between two extremes.

a high of 70° and a low of 50° give a mean of 60°

median applies to the value that represents the point at which there are as many instances above as there are below.

average of a group of persons earning 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 dollars an hour is 6 dollars, whereas the median is 5 dollars

norm means the average of performance of a significantly large group, class, or grade.

scores about the norm for fifth grade arithmetic

Example Sentences

Noun The average of 16, 8, and 6 is 10. Take all these temperatures and find their average. An average of 2,000 people attended the show each night. Prices have increased on average about eight percent. On average, women live longer than men. His work has been above the average. Adjective Take all these temperatures and find their average temperature. The investment had a higher average return. The average age of the company's employees is 36. The average woman lives longer than the average man. Do you know what the average person earns? the average American family buyer Sales were about average for the industry on the whole. Average grades are not good enough to get you into graduate school. She was an average student. She thought the performance was just average. Verb The teacher averaged the students' grades. What figure do you get when you average the amount of rainfall for the last three months? See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The city suffered major damage from Hurricane Katrina and receives about 65 inches of rainfall each year, which is almost double the national average. —

Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 17 May 2023 Research has found that every death leaves an average of nine people in mourning. —

Liz Szabo, Anchorage Daily News, 17 May 2023 The participants had an average of about 12 vasomotor symptoms each day before taking Veozah, and down to about six after one month of treatment. —

Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 17 May 2023 Rents increased an average of 3.6% over the past year, but in some cases the increase was much steeper. —

oregonlive, 17 May 2023 That means that women costume designers are losing an average of $2 million throughout their careers. —

Sophia Scorziello, Variety, 15 May 2023 Several advocated investing more in public schools in Texas, where funding lags the national average. —

Allie Morris, Dallas News, 15 May 2023 Meanwhile, the infant mortality rate in the territory in 2020, the most recent year for which data are available, was 14.3 deaths for every 1,000 live births — nearly triple the Canadian average of 4.5, and a reflection of the deep poverty in which many Inuit live. —

Kelly Grant/the Globe And Mail (canada), San Francisco Chronicle, 15 May 2023 Cunningham got nine first-place votes and finished third in the voting, thanks to averages of 17.4/5.5/5.6 while Green (17.3/3.4/2.6) received just three third-place votes. —

Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 15 May 2023

Adjective

The average cost of professional painters is around $200 to $500 per day, plus the cost of materials. —

Kate Mcgregor, House Beautiful, 18 May 2023 In 2021, the national average cost for a house was $365,616, according to the report. —

Tony Holt, Arkansas Online, 17 May 2023 The average price for regular gasoline in California is $4.81 per gallon, about four cents less than last week. —

Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2023 The average price of each lot or bourbon bottle is $427, Cassidy said. —

Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 16 May 2023 For instance, in Arizona the average price for regular gasoline stands at $4.67 a gallon – down just slightly from $4.75 a gallon a year ago. —

Matt Egan, CNN, 15 May 2023 The average time to close an immigration case is about four years, according to the database. —

Zolan Kanno-youngs, BostonGlobe.com, 14 May 2023 For the winter of 2022-23, the average WSI was a moderate 69 across the northern forest zone counties. —

Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 13 May 2023 The Columbia River and neighboring Willamette, Sandy and Clackamas rivers all measured about 55 degrees Friday, which is average for this time of the year, according to meteorologist Noah Alviz with the National Weather Service in Portland. —

oregonlive, 13 May 2023

Verb

There is also a 98 percent chance that the upcoming five-year block, 2023 to 2027, could average as the hottest five-year window on record. —

Matthew Cappucci, Anchorage Daily News, 17 May 2023 Last season, largely operating as the second-unit point guard, Henderson showed positive flashes averaging 5.3 points and 2.5 assists per game. —

Matthew Glenesk, The Indianapolis Star, 16 May 2023 That’s spurred by lower prices at the pump with a gallon averaging about $3.54 nationally, according to AAA. —

Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 15 May 2023 Tigers rookie Mason Englert credits life-changing routine for success in biggest moment yet In 2023, Turnbull has a 7.26 ERA with 15 walks (10.3% walk rate) and 24 strikeouts (16.6% strikeout rate) in 31 innings across seven starts, averaging 4.4 innings per start. —

Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 12 May 2023 In 19 games played for G League Ignite during the 2022-23 NBA G League season, Henderson averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game. —

James Mueller, Chron, 11 May 2023 Tagovailoa has averaged just 181.5 passing yards in four games against Belichick defenses and can be exposed. —

Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 11 May 2023 Rodman finished his senior season with the Cougars, averaging 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from 3-point range. —

Ryan Parker, Peoplemag, 10 May 2023 During the second half of last year, job growth averaged 353,000 per month. —

Alicia Wallace, CNN, 5 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'average.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun, Adjective, and Verb

from earlier average proportionally distributed charge for damage at sea, modification of Middle French avarie damage to ship or cargo, from Old Italian avaria, from Arabic ʽawārīya damaged merchandise

First Known Use

Noun

1770, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1746, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1769, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Time Traveler

The first known use of average was in 1746

See more words from the same year