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Normal   /nˈɔrməl/   Listen
adjective
Normal  adj.  
1.
According to an established norm, rule, or principle; conformed to a type, standard, or regular form; performing the proper functions; not abnormal; regular; natural; analogical. "Deviations from the normal type."
2.
(Geom.) According to a square or rule; perpendicular; forming a right angle; as, a line normal to the base. Specifically: Of or pertaining to a normal.
3.
(Chem.) Standard; original; exact; typical. Specifically:
(a)
(Quantitative Analysis) Denoting a solution of such strength that every cubic centimeter contains the same number of milligrams of the element in question as the number of its molecular weight.
(b)
(Chem.) Denoting certain hypothetical compounds, as acids from which the real acids are obtained by dehydration; thus, normal sulphuric acid and normal nitric acid are respectively S(OH)6, and N(OH)5.
(c)
(Organ. Chem.) Denoting that series of hydrocarbons in which no carbon atom is bound to more than two other carbon atoms; as, normal pentane, hexane, etc. Cf. Iso-.
Normal equations (Method of Least Squares), a set of equations of the first degree equal in number to the number of unknown quantities, and derived from the observations by a specified process. The solution of the normal equations gives the most probable values of the unknown quantities.
Normal group (Geol.), a group of rocks taken as a standard.
Normal place (of a planet or comet) (Astron.), the apparent place in the heavens of a planet or comet at a specified time, the place having been determined by a considerable number of observations, extending perhaps over many days, and so combined that the accidental errors of observation have largely balanced each other.
Normal school, a school whose methods of instruction are to serve as a model for imitation; an institution for the training of teachers.
Synonyms: Normal, Regular, Ordinary. Regular and ordinary are popular terms of well-known signification; normal has now a more specific sense, arising out of its use in science. A thing is normal, or in its normal state, when strictly conformed to those principles of its constitution which mark its species or to the standard of a healthy and natural condition. It is abnormal when it departs from those principles.


noun
Normal  n.  
1.
(Geom.) Any perpendicular.
2.
(Geom.) A straight line or plane drawn from any point of a curve or surface so as to be perpendicular to the curve or surface at that point. Note: The term normal is also used to denote the distance along the normal line from the curve to the axis of abscissas or to the center of curvature.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Normal" Quotes from Famous Books



... successful seems to be one in which water is being constantly forced by a pump driven off the engine shaft into a cylinder controlling a throttle-valve in the main steam-pipe. The water escapes through a leak, which is adjustable. As long as the speed of the engine is normal, the water escapes from the cylinder as fast as it is pumped in, and no movement of the piston results; but when the screw begins to race, the pump overcomes the leak, and the piston is driven out, causing a throttling of the ...
— How it Works • Archibald Williams
... like those of the squares in French cities, where not a blade of grass is allowed to grow. As to the other symptoms of devastation and obstruction, such as deserted houses, unfenced fields, and a general aspect of nakedness and ruin, I know not how much may be due to a normal lack of neatness in the rural life of Virginia, which puts a squalid face even upon a prosperous state of things; but undoubtedly the war must have spoilt what was good, and made the bad a great deal ...
— Sketches and Studies • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... is what the Apostle prays for his beloved friends in Thessalonica—abounding love and perfect holiness. This is Christianity and the normal Christian life. How simple it all is, summed up in the words Love and Holiness. And yet how searching it is! The simplest things are often the most difficult, and while it is possible for the believer ...
— The Prayers of St. Paul • W. H. Griffith Thomas
... her own and every one else's memory any case in which she had shown her susceptibility to terror. She wondered at herself in these occasional experiences, which seemed like a brief remembered madness, an unexplained exception from her normal life; and in this instance she felt a peculiar vexation that her helpless fear had shown itself, not, as usual, in solitude, but in well-lit company. Her ideal was to be daring in speech and reckless in braving dangers, both moral and physical; and though her practice fell far behind ...
— Daniel Deronda • George Eliot
... The form leant is retained here, as the stem-vowel, though unaltered in spelling, is shortened in pronunciation. Thus leant (pronounced 'lent') from lean comes under the same category as crept from creep, lept from leap, cleft from cleave, etc.—perfectly normal forms, all of them. In the case of weak preterites formed without any vowel-change, the more regular formation with ed is that which has been adopted in this ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Volume I • Percy Bysshe Shelley


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