mediocrity
/ˌmidiˈɒkɹəti/mee-dee-AH-kruh-tee
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ˌmidiˈɑkɹəti/mee-dee-AH-kruh-tee
Meaningthe quality of being mediocre
Common meaning: ordinariness
Other meanings: an ordinary person
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- medimiddleLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1122 · scan
- ocrLatin ending: -ish (as in mediocris)
- itynoun ending: being so, the quality of
Journey through time
- Latinmedius‘middle’
- Englishmediocre‘only average’
- Englishformed in English from mediocremediocrity‘ordinariness’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from mediocre + -ity.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), MEDIOCRE, p.361 · scan
Roots
- medius Latin “middle”
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