Regular

How to spell regular

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce regular

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does regular mean?

1. adjectiveArranged or recurring at even, consistent intervals; usual or habitual.
2. nounA frequent, familiar customer or participant who turns up routinely.

Regular in a sentence

• adjective

  The train keeps to a regular schedule throughout the day.

• noun

  The bartender greeted every regular by name.

• adjective

  She goes to the gym on a regular basis each week.

• noun

  As a regular at the café, he always got the corner table.

Where does regular come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin regularis, meaning 'according to rule', which was built on regula, a noun that literally meant a straight stick, a measuring rod, or a ruler used to draw straight lines. That same regula gave rise to the English words 'rule' and 'regulate', so the family connection is one of measuring and keeping things in order. The sense moved naturally from 'conforming to a fixed rule' to 'evenly spaced, consistent, or habitual'. English took the word in during the 1300s through Old French reguler, and the spelling later settled back toward the Latin form. The trickiest part for writers is the unstressed middle, where the '-gu-' and the final '-ar' both blur into a faint schwa, tempting people toward '-er' instead of '-ar'.

How the word is built

• regul- (from Latin regula: a rule or straight bar)
• -ar (adjective-forming suffix meaning 'relating to')