routine
adjEtymology Unadapted borrowing from French routine. By surface analysis, route + -ine. Further from Latin rupta via. Compare typologically travel << Latin tripālium, whence also travail, note the inverse semantic vector from a subjective state (toil) to an objective action (journey). Also compare Czech běžný (< běžet), Russian обихо́д (obixód), обихо́дный (obixódnyj) (akin to ходи́ть (xodítʹ)).
1
According to established procedure.
- "Morning, inspector," affably remarked the cripple—he had not failed to observe the badge—"rather early for your job, eh? Nothing wrong with our supply up here, I hope, eh?" "Nothing at all, sir," said the inspector. "Just an ordinary routine round. We do them regularly."1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
2
Regular; habitual.
- Pepper's forgiven me in the quiet, hurt way women sometimes forgive. She doesn't cry. She doesn't smile either. She's being routine.1993, Tristan Hawkins, Pepper, London: Flamingo, →ISBN, page 108:
- Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
3
Ordinary with nothing to distinguish it from all the others.
- Stoke put themselves in a fine position to qualify for the Europa League knockout stage with a routine victory over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel.2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
- Derived terms
- routinely