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Origin and history of usual

usual(adj.)

late 14c., "generally recognized;" mid-15c., "commonly encountered," from Old French usuel "current, in currency (of money), valid" (13c.) and directly from Late Latin usualis "ordinary," from Latin usus "custom" (see use (v.)).

Phrase as usual "in such manner as is common" is recorded by 1716. The usual suspects is from a line delivered by Claude Rains (as a French police inspector) in "Casablanca" (1942).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to usual

use(v.)

c. 1200, usen, "employ for a purpose," from Old French user "employ, make use of, practice, frequent," from Vulgar Latin *usare "use," from stem of Latin uti "make use of, profit by, take advantage of, enjoy, apply, consume" (in Old Latin oeti "use, employ, exercise, perform"), a word of uncertain origin. Related: Used; using. It took senses of Old English brucan (see brook (v.)).

For intransitive senses (used to), see used. From c. 1300 as "speak or write a language;" by mid-14c. as "consume" (food, medicine). From late 14c. as "take advantage of" a situation, "seize" an opportunity; "enjoy, have a right to." To use up "consume entirely" is by 1785.

unusual(adj.)

"not usual, uncommon," 1580s, from un- (1) "not" + usual (adj.). Related: Unusually; unusualness (1570s); unusuality.

usually(adv.)

early 15c., usualli, "normally, typically, commonly; according to custom;" from usual (adj.) + -ly (2).

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    common
    c. 1300, "belonging to all, owned or used jointly, general, of a public nature or character," from Old French comun "common, general, free, open, public" (9c., Modern French commun), from Latin communis "in common, public, shared by all or many; general, not specific; familiar, n
    ordinary
    c. 1400, ordinarie, "regular, customary, belonging to the usual order or course, conformed to a regulated sequence or arrangement...," from Old French ordinarie "ordinary, usual" and directly from Latin ordinarius "customary, regular, usual, orderly," from...
    extraordinary
    "being beyond or out of the common order or rule; not of the usual, customary, or regular kind," early 15c., from Latin extraordinarius..."out of the common order," from extra ordinem "out of order," especially the usual order, from extra "out" (see extra-)...
    disguise
    c. 1300, "conceal the personal identity of by changes of guise or usual appearance, with intent to deceive," from Old French...Originally primarily "to put out of one's usual manner" (of dress, etc.), "change one's appearance;" a sense preserved in...
    normal
    Meaning "conforming to common standards or established order or usage, regular, usual" is attested from 1828 but probably...As a noun meaning "usual state or condition," from 1890 (in geometry as "a perpendicular" from 1727)....
    oration
    The usual Old French form was oraison....
    retaliate
    (now the usual sense). Intransitive sense is from 1650s. Related: Retaliated; retaliating....
    dominion
    mid-15c., "lordship, sovereign or supreme authority," from Old French dominion "dominion, rule, power" and directly from Medieval Latin dominionem (nominative dominio), corresponding to Latin dominium "property, ownership," from dominus "lord, master," from domus "house" (from PI
    angle
    "to fish with a hook," mid-15c., from Old English angel (n.) "angle, hook, fish-hook," related to anga "hook," from Proto-Germanic *angul-, from PIE *ankulo-, suffixed form of root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). Compare Old English angul, Old Norse öngull, Old High Germa
    barbarian
    mid-14c., "foreign, of another nation or culture," from Medieval Latin barbarinus (see barbarian (n.)). The meaning "of or pertaining to savages, rude, uncivilized" is from 1590s....early 15c., in reference to classical history, "a non-Roman or non-Greek," earlier barbar (late 14

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