Abnormal

How to spell abnormal

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce abnormal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does abnormal mean?

1. adjectiveDiffering from what is normal, usual, or expected, often in a way that causes concern.

Abnormal in a sentence

• The blood test revealed an abnormal level of iron.

• Engineers flagged the abnormal vibration in the engine.

Where does abnormal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin norma, which literally meant a carpenter's square, the tool used to test a true right angle, and from there came to mean a rule, pattern, or standard. The prefix ab- carries the sense of 'away from' or 'departing from', so the underlying idea is something that deviates from the standard. Interestingly, the modern spelling is partly a tidy-up: an older English form was 'anormal', borrowed through French from the Greek-flavoured anomalos meaning 'uneven', but writers re-Latinised it under the influence of norma, swapping in the ab- prefix to land on abnormal. The word settled into its current shape in the early 1800s. The same norma root still sits inside everyday relatives such as 'normal', 'enormous' (literally 'out of the norm'), and 'norm' itself, which is why the single b and the -mal ending are the spots to watch.

How the word is built

• ab- (away from)
• norm (rule/standard)
• -al (adjective suffix)