Syn. — 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.
Normal
(Nor"mal) n. [Cf. F. normale, ligne normale. See Normal, a.]
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.
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.
Normalcy
(Nor"mal*cy) n. The quality, state, or fact of being normal; as, the point of normalcy. [R.]
Normalization
(Nor`mal*i*za"tion) n. Reduction to a standard or normal state.
Normally
(Nor"mal*ly), adv. In a normal manner. Darwin.
Norman
(Nor"man) n. [F. normand.] (Naut.) A wooden bar, or iron pin. W. C. Russell.
Norman
(Nor"man), a. [F. normand, of Scand. origin. See Northman, and cf. Norse.] Of or pertaining
to Normandy or to the Normans; as, the Norman language; the Norman conquest.
Norman style (Arch.), a style of architecture which arose in the tenth century, characterized by great
massiveness, simplicity, and strength, with the use of the semicircular arch, heavy round columns, and a
great variety of ornaments, among which the zigzag and spiral or cable-formed ornaments were prominent.
Norman
(Nor"man), n. A native or inhabitant of Normandy; originally, one of the Northmen or Scandinavians
who conquered Normandy in the 10th century; afterwards, one of the mixed (Norman-French) race which
conquered England, under William the Conqueror.
Normanism
(Nor"man*ism) n. A Norman idiom; a custom or expression peculiar to the Normans. M.
Arnold.
Norn
(Norn Nor"na) , n. [Icel. norn, pl. nornir.]
1. (Scandinavian Myth.) One of the three Fates, Past, Present, and Future. Their names were Urd,
Verdandi, and Skuld.
2. A tutelary deity; a genius.
