average
Syllabification: (av·er·age)
Pronunciation: /ˈav(ə)rij/
(abbreviation: avg.)
Translate average | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish Definition of average
noun
- 1a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number:the housing prices there are twice the national averageCompare with mean3 (sense 1 of the noun).
adjective
verb
Origin:
late 15th century: from French avarie 'damage to ship or cargo', earlier 'customs duty', from Italian avaria, from Arabic 'awār 'damage to goods'; the suffix -age is on the pattern of damage. Originally denoting a charge or customs duty payable by the owner of goods to be shipped, the term later denoted the financial liability from goods lost or damaged at sea, and specifically the equitable apportionment of this between the owners of the vessel and the cargo (late 16th century); this gave rise to the general sense of the equalizing out of gains and losses by calculating the mean (mid 18th century)