or·di·nar·y / ˈôrdnˌerē/ • adj. 1. with no special or distinctive features; normal: he sets out to depict ordinary people it was just an ordinary evening. ∎  uninteresting; commonplace: ordinary items of everyday wear.2. (esp. of a judge or bishop) exercising authority by virtue of office and not by delegation.• n. (pl. -nar·ies) 1. [in sing.] what is commonplace or standard: their clichés were vested with enough emotion to elevate them above the ordinary.2. Law Brit. a person, esp. a judge, exercising authority by virtue of office and not by delegation. ∎  in some U.S. states, a judge of probate.3. (usu. Ordinary) those parts of a Roman Catholic service, esp. the Mass, that do not vary from day to day. ∎  a rule or book giving the order for saying the Mass.4. Heraldry any of the simplest principal charges used in coats of arms (esp. chief, pale, bend, fess, bar, chevron, and saltire).5. hist. an early type of bicycle with one large and one very small wheel; a penny-farthing.PHRASES: out of the ordinary unusual: nothing out of the ordinary happened.DERIVATIVES: or·di·nar·i·ness n.

Ordinary. In canon law, an ecclesiastic having the spiritual jurisdiction over a particular area as part of his office. Thus the ordinary of a diocese is the bishop, etc.

ordinary in heraldry, any of the simplest principal charges used in coats of arms, usually having a basic geometrical shape (especially chief, pale, bend, fess, bar, chevron, cross, saltire).