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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

average

/ˈæv.ɚ.ɪd͡ʒ/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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AV-er-ij: the final g sounds like j.

The first vowel is the a in “cat.” The middle vowel may disappear in the shorter AV-rij pronunciation, which the dictionary also records.

TRY SAYING
The average journey takes about forty minutes.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

What does average mean?

noun

  1. Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
  2. The arithmetic mean.
  3. A financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
More meanings (12)

noun

  1. An indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.
  2. (dated) Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense.
  3. (obsolete) Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods.
  4. (obsolete) The feudal service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.

adjective

  1. Constituting or relating to the average.
  2. Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category.
  3. Typical.
  4. (informal) Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor.

verb

  1. To compute the average of, especially the arithmetic mean.
  2. Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of.
  3. To divide among a number, according to a given proportion.
  4. To be, generally or on average.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈæv.ɚ.ɪd͡ʒ/

Pronunciation used in the listening tip.

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˈæv.ɹɪd͡ʒ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Those nation-loved children of theirs compared with the average in our country as the most perfectly cultivated, richly developed roses compare with--tumbleweeds.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanHerlandProject Gutenberg ebook #32
He was a very lean man, of no more than average height, with gray hair cut short and a stubbly gray moustache.
W. Somerset (William Somerset) MaughamThe Moon and SixpenceProject Gutenberg ebook #222
More book examples (3)
It was only an average little conscience, a thing which represented the world, her past environment, habit, convention, in a confused way.
Theodore DreiserSister Carrie: A NovelProject Gutenberg ebook #233
In all else, he appears as a man ardent, passionate, practical, designed for affairs and prospering in them far beyond the average.
Robert Louis StevensonRecords of a Family of EngineersProject Gutenberg ebook #280
Big-heartedness, generosity, courage, and self-denial are the qualifications of a public servant, and the average Indian was keen to follow this ideal.
Charles A. EastmanIndian Heroes and Great ChieftainsProject Gutenberg ebook #336