regular

• reg'lar
• reg, reg.

From Middle English reguler, 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”).

• (UK) enPR: regʹyo͝olər, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.lə(ɹ)/
• (Indic) enPR: regʹ(y)o͝olər, IPA^(key): /ˈrɛɡ.(j)ʊ.ləʳ/
• (US) enPR: regʹyələr, regʹlər, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/, [ˈɹɛɡ.jɪ̈.lɚ]; /ˈɹɛɡ.l̩ɚ/, [ˈɹɛɡ.l̩ɚ] (reg'lar)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (US) Hyphenation: reg‧u‧lar
• Rhymes: -ɛɡjʊlə(ɹ), -ɛɡjələ(ɹ), -ɛɡələ(ɹ)

regular (comparative more regular, superlative most regular)

1. (Christianity) Bound by religious rule; belonging to a monastic or religious order (often as opposed to secular). [from 14th c.]

   regular clergy, in distinction from the secular clergy

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 201:

     A quarter of a million strong in 1680, the clergy was only half as large in 1789. The unpopular regular clergy were the worst affected.

2. Having a constant pattern; showing evenness of form or appearance. [from 15th c.]

   Synonyms: equable, uniform, unvarying; see also Thesaurus:steady

   Antonyms: chaotic, irregular; see also Thesaurus:unsteady

3. (geometry, of a polygon) Both equilateral and equiangular; having all sides of the same length, and all (corresponding) angles of the same size [from 16th c.]
4. (geometry, of a polyhedron) Whose faces are all congruent regular polygons, equally inclined to each other.
5. Demonstrating a consistent set of rules; showing order, evenness of operation or occurrence. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: in order, ruly, tidy; see also Thesaurus:orderly

   Antonyms: chaotic, tumultuous; see also Thesaurus:disorderly

   • 2011 April 12, A[lison] L[ouise] Kennedy, The Guardian:

     April may be the cruellest month, but I am planning to render it civilised and to take my antibiotics in a regular manner.

6. (astronomy) Of a moon or other satellite: following a relatively close and prograde orbit with little inclination or eccentricity.
7. (now rare) Well-behaved, orderly; restrained (of a lifestyle etc.). [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: decent, seemly, well-mannered

   Antonyms: degenerate, irregular

8. Happening at constant (especially short) intervals. [from 17th c.]

   Synonyms: cyclical, frequent; see also Thesaurus:periodic

   Antonyms: irregular, noncyclic

   He made regular visits to go see his mother.

9. (grammar, of a verb, plural, etc) Following a set or common pattern; according to the normal rules of a given language. [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: (verbs) weak

   Antonyms: irregular, (verbs) strong

   "Walked" is the past tense of the regular verb "to walk".

11. (chiefly US) Having the expected characteristics or appearances; normal, ordinary, standard. [from 17th c.]

    Synonyms: basic, common, unremarkable; see also Thesaurus:normal, Thesaurus:common

    Antonyms: irregular, outlandish, weird; see also Thesaurus:strange

    • 1868-69, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 21, in Little Women‎^[1], part 1:

      “I don’t see how you can write and act such splendid things, Jo. You’re a regular Shakespeare!” exclaimed Beth, who firmly believed that her sisters were gifted with wonderful genius in all things.

    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

      For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

12. (chiefly military) Permanently organised; being part of a set professional body of troops. [from 17th c.]

    Antonym: irregular

13. Having bowel movements or menstrual periods at constant intervals in the expected way. [from 18th c.]

    Maintaining a high-fibre diet keeps you regular.

    • 2015, Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island, page 206:

      Gulls cawed and wheeled overhead, dropping splatty white cluster bombs on rooftops and pavements. Goodness knows what those gulls eat, but it certainly keeps them regular.

14. (colloquial) Exemplary; excellent example of; utter, downright. [from 18th c.]

    Synonyms: absolute, thorough, unalloyed; see also Thesaurus:total

    a regular genius; a regular John Bull

    • 1997 February 16, Ron Hauge, Homer's Phobia (The Simpsons), season 8, episode 15, spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta):

      Don't worry, boy. We're gonna set you straight. By tomorrow morning, you'll be a regular Burt Reynolds.

15. (botany, zoology) Having all the parts of the same kind alike in size and shape.

    a regular flower; a regular sea urchin

16. (crystallography) Isometric.
17. (snowboarding) Riding with the left foot forward.

    Antonym: goofy

18. (mathematical analysis, not comparable, of a Borel measure) Such that every set in its domain is both outer regular and inner regular.
20. (commutative algebra, not comparable, of a local ring) Noetherian and such that the minimal number of generators of the maximal ideal is equal to the Krull dimension of the ring.
21. (algebraic geometry, not comparable, of a scheme) Such that the local ring at every point is regular.
22. (obsolete, not comparable, of a ring) A von Neumann regular: such that every left module (over the given ring) is flat.

    Synonym: absolutely flat

• irregular
• non-regular, nonregular

• (snowboarding): switch

regular (not comparable)

1. (archaic, dialect, nonstandard) Regularly, on a regular basis.
   • 1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner, London: Penguin Books, published 1967, page 131:

     'And if the knowledge wasn'y well come by, why, you might ha' made up for it by coming to church reg'lar.'

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     Though no minister would visit the Skerburnfoot, or, if he went, departed quicker than he came, the girl Ailie attended regular at the catechising at the mains of Sker.

   • 1946, William Hatfield, Buffalo Jim, Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege, page 47:

     "There's only twenty men staying in the house regular," said Ahearne, showing him around[.]

   • 1961, Colin Thiele, The Sun on the Stubble, Melbourne: Rigby Limited, page 113:

     "Drain her every thousand, regular. Don't do it myself, o' course; just drop her in at the lubritorium."

   • 1988, Mary Steele, Mallyroot's Pub at Misery Ponds, Ringwood: Puffin Books, page 37:

     "All we've got to do is stick 'em in the bedroom and feed 'em regular."

regular (plural regulars)

1. A member of the British Army (as opposed to a member of the Territorial Army or Reserve).
2. A frequent, routine visitor to an establishment.

   Bartenders usually know their regulars by name.

3. A member of an armed forces or police force.
4. A frequent customer, client or business partner.

   This gentleman was one of the architect's regulars.

5. (Canada) A coffee with one cream and one sugar.
6. Anything that is normal or standard.
   • 2011, Jamie MacLennan, ZhaoHui Tang, Bogdan Crivat, Data Mining with Microsoft SQL Server 2008:

     You separate the marbles by color until you have four groups, but then you notice that some of the marbles are regulars, some are shooters, and some are peewees.

7. A member of a religious order who has taken the three ordinary vows.
8. A number for each year, giving, added to the concurrents, the number of the day of the week on which the Paschal full moon falls.
9. A fixed number for each month serving to ascertain the day of the week, or the age of the moon, on the first day of any month.
10. (Singapore) Synonym of regular serviceman; a soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces who has chosen to work full-time beyond their required length of service in the army.
    • 2004, Ong Lay Jinn, 00:24:49 from the start, in Perth: The Geylang Massacre:

      Boss, this is the situation. They were regulars in the army. They’ve left the army and are taxi drivers now. He was a commando and he was a state boxer. They don’t earn much and there’s no end.

• (routine visitor): frequenter, habitué, patron, usual suspects

• non-regular, nonregular

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

• IPA^(key): /reɡuˈlaɾ/ [re.ɣ̞uˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: re‧gu‧lar

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular (epicene, plural regulares)

1. regular
2. fine, OK, average

• regularidá

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāre. Compare the doublet reglar, borrowed earlier from the same source.

regular (first-person singular indicative present regulo, past participle reguláu)

1. to regulate

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [rə.ɣuˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [rə.ɣuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [re.ɣuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ

regular m or f (masculine and feminine plural regulars)

1. regular (having a constant pattern)

   Antonym: irregular

2. normal, average
3. (geometry) regular (both equilateral and equiangular)

   Antonym: irregular

• regularitat
• regularitzar
• regularment

• irregular
• regla

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāre.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [rə.ɣuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [re.ɣuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

regular (first-person singular present regulo, first-person singular preterite regulí, past participle regulat)

1. (transitive) to regulate

• regulador

• regulació

• “regular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “regular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “regular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “regular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: re‧gu‧lar

Attested since circa 1300. Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular m or f (plural regulares)

1. regular
2. average

Learned borrowing from Latin rēgulō.

regular (first-person singular present regulo, first-person singular preterite regulei, past participle regulado)

1. to regulate
2. to tune (an engine)

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “regular”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “regular”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “regular”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “regular”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “regular”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• “regular”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “regular” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

Learned borrowing from Late Latin rēgulāris.

• Hyphenation: re‧gu‧lar

regular m or f (plural regulares, comparable, comparative mais regular, superlative o mais regular or regularíssimo)

1. regular
2. average

• irregular
• regularmente

Learned borrowing from Latin rēgulāre. Compare the doublet regrar, borrowed earlier from the same source.

• Hyphenation: re‧gu‧lar

regular (first-person singular present regulo, first-person singular preterite regulei, past participle regulado)

1. to regulate
2. to tune (an engine)
3. to set (a watch, clock)

• regulável

• регулар (regular) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāris. By surface analysis, regulă +‎ -ar.

• IPA^(key): /re.ɡuˈlar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: re‧gu‧lar

regular m or n (feminine singular regulară, masculine plural regulari, feminine and neuter plural regulare)

1. regular

• “regular”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

• IPA^(key): /reɡuˈlaɾ/ [re.ɣ̞uˈlaɾ]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: re‧gu‧lar

Borrowed from Late Latin rēgulāris.

regular m or f (masculine and feminine plural regulares)

1. regular, steady, even
2. fair, fairly good, average
3. common, ordinary, middling, so-so
4. (grammar) regular

Borrowed from Latin rēgulāre.

regular (first-person singular present regulo, first-person singular preterite regulé, past participle regulado)

1. to regulate
2. to control
3. to adjust
4. to put in order

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

Borrowed from Spanish regular.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ɾeɡuˈlaɾ/ [ɾɛ.ɣʊˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: re‧gu‧lar

regulár (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜄᜓᜎᜇ᜔)

1. regular; usual; ordinary

   Synonyms: karaniwan, pangkaraniwan

2. habitual; steady; permanent

   Synonyms: pirmihan, palagian

3. uniform; not changing
4. customary; usual

   Synonyms: katamtaman, kainaman

• “regular”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018