usual

English

Alternative forms

• uzhe, uzh, yoozh (slang, no fixed spelling)

Etymology

From Middle English usual, from Old French usuel, from Latin ūsuālis (“for use, fit for use, also of common use, customary, common, ordinary, usual”), from ūsus (“use, habit, custom”), from the past participle stem of ūtī (“to use”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt- (“to take along, fetch”). Displaced native Old English ġewunelīċ.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈjuːʒʊəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈjuːʒuəl/, /ˈjuːʒəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: u‧su‧al

Adjective

usual (comparative more usual, superlative most usual)

1. Most commonly occurring; typical.

   The preference of a boy to a girl is a usual occurrence in some parts of China.

   It is becoming more usual these days to rear children as bilingual.

Synonyms

• wonted, normal, common, standard, regular, ordinary, plain, simple, typical

Antonyms

• unusual, abnormal, atypical

Derived terms

• as per the usual
• as per usual
• as usual
• business-as-usual
• business as usual
• unusual
• usual channels
• usually
• usualness
• usual office
• usual offices
• usual suspects
• uzhe
• yewzh

Related terms

• usuality

Translations

most commonly occurring

Afrikaans: alledaags, gewoon (af) Arabic: عَادِيّ (ʕādiyy) Armenian: սովորական (hy) (sovorakan) Asturian: usual Azerbaijani: adi (az) Basque: ohiko, ohizko Belarusian: звыча́йны (be) (zvyčájny) Bulgarian: обичаен (bg) (običaen), обикновен (bg) (obiknoven) Catalan: usual (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 通常 (zh) (tōngcháng) Czech: obvyklý (cs) Danish: admindelig, sædvanlig (da) Dutch: gewoon (nl), alledaags (nl) Esperanto: kutima (eo) Estonian: tavaline (et) Finnish: tavallinen (fi) French: habituel (fr)/habituelle (fr) Galician: usual Georgian: ჩვეულებრივი (čveulebrivi) German: gewöhnlich (de), üblich (de) Hanunoo: adok Hungarian: szokásos (hu), rendesen (hu) Icelandic: venjulegur (is) Ido: kustumala (io) Irish: iondúil Italian: solito (it), usuale (it), consueto (it), abituale (it) Japanese: 通常 (ja) (つうじょう, tsūjō), いつもの (ja) (itsumo no) Korean: 보통의 (ko) (botong'ui) Latin: solitus, usualis (la), ūsitātus Latvian: parasts Livonian: irdzi Macedonian: вообичаен (voobičaen), обичен (običen) Marathi: नेहमीचे (nehmīce) Norwegian: Bokmål: vanlig (no), sedvanlig Nynorsk: sedvanleg Occitan: usual Old English: ġewunelīċ Polish: zwykły (pl) Portuguese: usual (pt) Romanian: uzual (ro) m or n, obișnuit (ro) m or n Russian: обыкнове́нный (ru) (obyknovénnyj), обы́чный (ru) (obýčnyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: уобѝча̄јен Roman: uobìčājen (sh) Slovak: obvyklý Slovene: običajen Spanish: usual (es), habitual (es), consabido (es) Swedish: vanlig (sv) Thai: ธรรมดา (th) (tam-má-daa), เช่นเคย (chêen-kəəi), สามัญ (th) (sǎa-man) Turkish: olağan (tr) Ukrainian: звича́йний (zvyčájnyj) Vietnamese: bình thường (vi)

Noun

usual (countable and uncountable, plural usuals)

1. (uncountable) The typical state of something, or something that is typical.
2. (countable, colloquial) A specific good or service (e.g. a drink) that someone typically orders.

   I'll just have the usual.

   Two usuals, please.

Usage notes

Sometimes colloquially shortened to the first syllable (IPA^(key): /juːʒ/), an overwhelmingly spoken-only slang word with no single widely accepted spelling (see uzhe).

Further reading

• “usual”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “usual”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• luaus

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin ūsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈswal/ [uˈswal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: u‧sual

Adjective

usual (epicene, plural usuales)

1. common, typical, usual

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ūsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [u.zuˈal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: u‧su‧al

Adjective

usual m or f (masculine and feminine plural usuals)

1. usual

   Antonym: inusual

Derived terms

• inusual
• usualment

Further reading

• “usual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “usual”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “usual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “usual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ūsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈswal/ [uˈs̺wɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: u‧sual

Adjective

usual m or f (plural usuais)

1. usual, regular, normal

Derived terms

• usualmente

Further reading

• “usual”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Middle English

Alternative forms

• usuel, usualle, usuale, usuell, usuall

Etymology

From Old French usuel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iu̯ziu̯ˈaːl/, /iu̯zuˈaːl/, /ˈiu̯ziu̯al/, /ˈiu̯zual/, /ˈiu̯zuəl/

Adjective

usual

1. customary, established
2. usual, normal, regular

Descendants

• English: usual
• Scots: usual, uswal, eeswal

References

• “ūsuā̆l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.

Piedmontese

Alternative forms

• üsual

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /yˈzɥal/

Adjective

usual

1. usual

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin ūsuālis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /u.zuˈaw/ [u.zʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /uˈzwaw/ [uˈzwaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /uˈzwal/ [uˈzwaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /uˈzwal/ [uˈzwaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /uˈzwa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: u‧su‧al

Adjective

usual m or f (plural usuais)

1. usual (most commonly occurring)

   Antonym: inusual

Derived terms

• inusual
• usualmente

Related terms

• usar
• uso

Further reading

• “usual”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ūsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈswal/ [uˈswal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: u‧sual

Adjective

usual m or f (masculine and feminine plural usuales)

1. usual

   Antonym: inusual

Derived terms

• inusual
• usualmente

Further reading

• “usual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10