Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Customary, usual, or normal.
  • adjective Orderly, even, or symmetrical.
  • adjective In conformity with a fixed procedure, principle, or discipline.
  • adjective Well-ordered; methodical.
  • adjective Occurring at fixed intervals; periodic.
  • adjective Having bowel movements or menstrual periods with normal frequency.
  • adjective Not varying; constant.
  • adjective Formally correct; proper.
  • adjective Having the required qualifications for an occupation.
  • adjective Informal Complete; thorough.
  • adjective Informal Good; nice.
  • adjective Botany Having symmetrically arranged parts of similar size and shape.
  • adjective Grammar Conforming to the usual pattern of inflection, derivation, or word formation.
  • adjective Ecclesiastical Belonging to a religious order and bound by its rules.
  • adjective Having equal sides and equal angles. Used of polygons.
  • adjective Having faces that are congruent regular polygons and congruent polyhedral angles. Used of polyhedrons.
  • adjective Belonging to or constituting the permanent army of a nation.
  • noun Ecclesiastical A member of the clergy or of a religious order.
  • noun A soldier belonging to a regular army.
  • noun A dependable loyal person.
  • noun A clothing size designed for persons of average height.
  • noun A habitual customer.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Conformed to or made in accordance with a rule; agreeable to an established rule, law, type, or principle, to a prescribed mode, or to established customary forms; normal: as, a regular epic poem; a regular verse in poetry; a regular plan; regular features; a regular building.
  • Acting, proceeding, or going on by rule; governed by rule or rules; steady or uniform in a course or practice; orderly; methodical; unvarying: as, regular in diet; regular in attendance on divine worship; the regular return of the seasons.
  • Specifically, in law, conformable to law and the rules and practice of the court.
  • In mathematics, governed by one law throughout.
  • In grammar, adhering to the more common form in respect to inflectional terminations, as, in English, verbs forming their preterits and past participles by the addition of -d or -ed to the infinitive; as nouns forming their plurals with -s or -es; as the three conjugations of French verbs known as regular; and so on.
  • Belonging to and subject to the rule of a monastic order; pertaining to a monastic order: as, regular clergy, in distinction from secular clergy.
  • Specifically, in botany, having the members of each circle of floral organs (sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils) normally alike in form and size: properly restricted to symmetry of form, as distinguished from symmetry of number.
  • In zoology, noting parts or organs which are symmetrically disposed. See Regularia.
  • In music: Same as strict: as, regular form; a regular fugue, etc.
  • Same as similar: as, regular motion.
  • Milit., permanent; standing: opposed to volunteer: said of an army or of troops.
  • In United States politics, of, pertaining to, or originating from the recognized agents or “machinery” of a party: as, a regular ticket.
  • Thorough; out-and-out; perfect; complete: as, a regular humbug; a regular deception; a regular brick.
  • A curve defined by the same equation or equations throughout.
  • Synonyms Ordinary, etc. See normal.
  • Systematic, uniform, periodic, settled, established, stated.
  • noun A member of any duly constituted religious order which is bound by the three monastic vows.
  • noun A soldier who belongs to a standing army, as opposed to a militiaman or volunteer; a professional soldier.
  • noun In chronology: A number attached to each year such that added to the concurrents it gives the number of the day of the week on which the paschal full moon falls.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Conformed to a rule; agreeable to an established rule, law, principle, or type, or to established customary forms; normal; symmetrical
  • adjective Governed by rule or rules; steady or uniform in course, practice, or occurence; not subject to unexplained or irrational variation; returning at stated intervals; steadily pursued; orderlly; methodical
  • adjective Constituted, selected, or conducted in conformity with established usages, rules, or discipline; duly authorized; permanently organized
  • adjective Belonging to a monastic order or community.
  • adjective colloq. Thorough; complete; unmitigated.
  • adjective (Bot. & Zoöl.) Having all the parts of the same kind alike in size and shape
  • adjective (Crystallog.) Same as Isometric.
  • adjective (Geom.) a plane polygon which is both equilateral and equiangular.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English reguler, living under religious rule, from Old French, from Late Latin rēgulāris, according to rule, from Latin rēgula, rod, rule; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman reguler, Middle French reguler, regulier, and their source, Latin rēgulāris ("continuing rules for guidance"), from rēgula ("rule"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“move in a straight line”).

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