irregular

adj
/ɪˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.lə/UK/ɪˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/US/ɪˈɹeɡ.jə.lə/

Etymology

From Middle English irreguler, from Old French irreguler, from Medieval Latin or Late Latin irrēgulāris, from in- + regularis, equivalent to ir- + regular.

  1. derived from irrēgulāris
  2. derived from irreguler
  3. inherited from irreguler

Definitions

  1. Nonstandard

    Nonstandard; not conforming to rules or expectations.

    • ‘ “It would be most irregular Grandpa!” says Miss Cecily frowning and tapping her foot. “Well, we’re a pretty irregular family so that’s neither here nor there,” says the old man, impish like. [...] ’
  2. Of a surface, rough.

  3. Without symmetry, regularity, or uniformity.

    • The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.
    • Near by, where the crystal clear River Llugwy is crossed by a bridge, stands a small and ancient church built of massive, irregular boulders.
  4. + 5 more definitions
    1. Of a polygon, not regular

      Of a polygon, not regular; having sides that are not equal or angles that are not equal.

    2. Of a polyhedron, whose faces are not all regular polygons (or are not equally inclined to…

      Of a polyhedron, whose faces are not all regular polygons (or are not equally inclined to each other).

    3. Of a word, not following the regular or expected patterns of inflection in a given…

      Of a word, not following the regular or expected patterns of inflection in a given language.

      • "Calves", "cacti", and "children" are irregular plurals.
      • "To buy" is an irregular English verb: its past simple and past participle tense is "bought".
      • I hate learning all the irregular conjugations in French.
    4. A soldier who is not a member of an official military force and who may not use regular…

      A soldier who is not a member of an official military force and who may not use regular army tactics.

    5. One who does not regularly attend a venue.

      • There's one neighborhood tavern where the regulars and irregulars go after a hard day to unlax and rewind, throw back a few, and just hang out - you know the one.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at irregular. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01irregular02nonstandard03majority04legislature05amend06sick07unstable08fluctuating

A definitional loop anchored at irregular. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at irregular

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA