- the result of adding several amounts together, finding a total, and dividing the total by the number of amounts The term average can be used for any number that expresses the central or typical value in a set of data. It is most commonly used to mean the mean, as defined here. However, the median and the mode are also types of average.
- The average of 4, 5 and 9 is 6.
- an average of something Parents spend an average of $220 a year on toys.
- Prices rose by an average of 10 percent over the decade.
- If I get an A on this essay, that will bring my average (= average mark/grade) up to a B+.
- Class sizes in the school are below the national average.
- We will deliver growth in the economy that is higher than the OECD average this year.
- They had higher mortality rates from accidents compared with the national average.
- Children here score well above the city average on math and reading tests.
Extra ExamplesTopics Maths and measurementa2- The national average is just over two children per family.
- You'll have to calculate the average.
- the student with the best grade point average in his class
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- annual
- five-year
- monthly
- …
- arrive at
- calculate
- compute
- …
- above average
- below average
- on average
- …
Definitions on the go
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- a level that is usual
- above/below average Temperatures are above average for the time of year.
- on average 400 people a year die of this disease on average.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- annual
- five-year
- monthly
- …
- arrive at
- calculate
- compute
- …
- above average
- below average
- on average
- …
Word Originlate 15th cent.: from French avarie ‘damage to ship or cargo’, earlier ‘customs duty’, from Italian avaria, from Arabic ‘awār ‘damage to goods’; the suffix -age is on the pattern of damage. Originally this referred to a tax on exported goods. The meaning later changed so that it referred to money due from goods that had been lost or damaged at sea. It referred specifically to the way the losses were divided between the owners of the vessel and the owners of the cargo (late 16th cent.). This gave rise to the general sense of calculating the mean (mid 18th cent.).
Idioms
See average in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee average in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthe law of averages
- the principle that one thing will happen as often as another if you try enough times
- Keep applying and by the law of averages you'll get a job sooner or later.
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average