Hypertext Webster Gateway: "average"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Average \Av"er*age\, n. [OF. average, LL. averagium, prob. fr.
OF. aver, F. avoir, property, horses, cattle, etc.; prop.
infin., to have, from L. habere to have. Cf. F. av['e]rage
small cattle, and avarie (perh. of different origin) damage
to ship or cargo, port dues. The first meaning was perh. the
service of carting a feudal lord's wheat, then charge for
carriage, the contribution towards loss of things carried, in
proportion to the amount of each person's property. Cf.
{Aver}, n., {Avercorn}, {Averpenny}.]
1. (OLd Eng. Law) That service which a tenant owed his lord,
to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the
carriage of wheat, turf, etc.

2. [Cf. F. avarie damage to ship or cargo.] (Com.)
(a) A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.]
(b) Any charge in addition to the regular charge for
freight of goods shipped.
(c) A contribution to a loss or charge which has been
imposed upon one of several for the general benefit;
damage done by sea perils.
(d) The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss
or expense among all interested.

{General average}, a contribution made, by all parties
concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by
the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the
parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called
general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of
ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the
sacrifice. --Kent.

{Particular average} signifies the damage or partial loss
happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in
consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident;
and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles
damaged, or by their insurers.

{Petty averages} are sundry small charges, which occur
regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in
the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common
pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some
cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by
the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of
lading, ``primage and average accustomed,'' average means
a kind of composition established by usage for such
charges, which were formerly assessed by way of average.
--Arnould. --Abbott. --Phillips.

3. A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of
unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if
A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the
average 10.

4. Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a
comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual
size, quantity, quality, rate, etc. ``The average of
sensations.'' --Paley.

5. pl. In the English corn trade, the medial price of the
several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.

{On an average}, taking the mean of unequal numbers or
quantities.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Average \Av"er*age\, a.
1. Pertaining to an average or mean; medial; containing a
mean proportion; of a mean size, quality, ability, etc.;
ordinary; usual; as, an average rate of profit; an average
amount of rain; the average Englishman; beings of the
average stamp.

2. According to the laws of averages; as, the loss must be
made good by average contribution.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Average \Av"er*age\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Averaged} (?); p. pr.
& vb. n. {Averaging}.]
1. To find the mean of, when sums or quantities are unequal;
to reduce to a mean.

2. To divide among a number, according to a given proportion;
as, to average a loss.

3. To do, accomplish, get, etc., on an average.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Average \Av"er*age\, v. i.
To form, or exist in, a mean or medial sum or quantity; to
amount to, or to be, on an average; as, the losses of the
owners will average twenty five dollars each; these spars
average ten feet in length.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

average
adj 1: (statistics) approximating the statistical norm or average
or expected value; "the average income in New England
is below that of the nation"; "of average height for
his age"; "the mean annual rainfall" [syn: {mean(a)}]
2: lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly
encountered; "average people"; "the ordinary (or common)
man in the street" [syn: {ordinary}]
3: of no exceptional quality or ability; "a novel of average
merit"; "only a fair performance of the sonata"; "in fair
health"; "the caliber of the students has gone from
mediocre to above average"; "the performance was middling
at best" [syn: {fair}, {mediocre}, {middling}]
4: around the middle of a scale of evaluation of physical
measures; "an orange of average size"; "intermediate
capacity"; "a plane with intermediate range"; "medium
bombers" [syn: {intermediate}, {medium}]
5: (statistics) relating to or constituting the most frequent
value in a distribution; "the modal age at which American
novelists reach their peak is 30" [syn: {modal(a)}]
6: (statistics) relating to or constituting the middle value of
an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two
in an even-numbered set); "the median value of 17, 20, and
36 is 20"; "the median income for the year was $15,000"
[syn: {median(a)}]
n : a statistic describing the location of a distribution: "it
set the norm for American homes" [syn: {norm}]
v 1: amount to or come to an average, without loss or gain; "The
number of hours I work per work averages out to 40"
[syn: {average out}]
2: achieve or reach on average; "He averaged a C"
3: compute the average of [syn: {average out}]


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