regular
Definitions
General English
Banking
- adjective occurring at the same time each day, each week, each month or each year
Information & Library Science
- noun a person who frequently uses the same services
Medical
- adjective taking place again and again after the same period of time
Military
- adjective relating to a full-time professional force, with a proper organization and rank structure and regular training
- noun a member of the regular armed forces (as opposed to a reservist, territorial or guerrilla)
Sports
- adjective used for describing a stance on the board in which the rider’s left foot is nearer the front end
Origin & History of “regular”
Regular ‘according to a rule’ is the most instantly recognizable English descendant of Latin rēgula ‘rule’ (others include rail ‘bar’ and rule). It goes back ultimately to the same Indo-European base as produced Latin regere ‘rule’ (source of English rector, regent, etc) and rēx ‘king’ (source of English regal, royal, etc). from it was derived the late Latin verb rēgulāre, which has given English regulate (17th c.), and may also lie behind rile ‘annoy’ (19th c.), a variant of an earlier roil which was possibly imported via Old French ruiler ‘mix mortar’.
