norm-, normo-
(Latin: rule, pattern; normalis, "right angled, made according to a carpenter's or mason's square"; then, "conforming to common standards, usual")
2. Being within certain limits that define the range of general functioning: The normalcy that Helen's friends expected of her was that she would be calm during her medical crisis.
3. The quality, or condition, of being expected, as the general economic, political, and social conditions of a nation: After months of living in a state of financial tension, everyone yearned for a return to economic normalcy.
Normalcy is used primarily to denote a regular, healthy state of affairs, politically and economically. After the war, the country slowly returned to normalcy.
The term was used by U.S. President Warren Harding and the newspapers reacted violently because in the view of many of the President's linguistically conservative fellow citizens; especially, those in the writing or academic areas, normalcy was a "barbarism" used to replace the more acceptable normality.
Before his nomination, Warren G. Harding (Twenty-ninth president, 1921-1923) declared:
President Harding said he found the word normalicy in a dictionary, which probably was true, because it was apparently in dictionaries at the time. It is said to have appeared first back in the 1850s.
In the Oxford English Dictionary on a CD, it states: "Normalcy, Chiefly U.S. = normality"; from 1857, Davies and Peck Math Dictionary.
In The New Universities Dictionary (Based on the Original Foundation of Noah Webster); Edited by Joseph Devlin M.A.; World Syndicate Company, Inc.; New York; 1925; the following entry is shown: "normalcy, normality, n. state of being normal."
2. The way things are under regular circumstances: Sam enjoyed the normality of calmness that was so evident at the seashore.
3. A common or natural condition or a usual or accepted rule or process: The normality of everyday life appealed to Thomas after he retired.
4. A mixture of two or more substances, or liquids, in a homogenous solution: The students in the chemistry laboratory created a normality by mixing peroxide and water.
5. Commonly used to indicate an acceptable physical or mental condition: A series of psychotherapies should help restore Manfred back to normality.
2. To make regular or average, especially to cause someone to respond to a standard: Dr. Jones tried to normalize Janet's body temperature because it was too high caused by her flu.
3. To make a text or language regular and consistent, especially with respect to spelling or style: Using compatible dictionaries helped Kitty Hawk normalize her writing skills to meet the expectations of her editor.
4. To heat steel above a specific temperature and then to cool it in order to reduce internal stress: Helmut, the foreman at the foundry, was normalizing the steel that was to be used for the construction of the bridge.
2. In a generally accepted situation; reliable or typical; doing what would be expected: The teenagers do what is normally expected on the weekend in that they stay up late at night on Friday and sleep late on Saturday morning.
2. Concerning conventional responsiveness to stimulations: A normergic reaction is influenced by the degree of sensitivity a body has toward an allergen, depending on age and other physical factors.
2. A healthy condition in which the CO2 levels in the arteries are standard: Dr. Alison's patient was discharged from the hospital when her carbon dioxide levels had reached a status of normocapnia.
2. A typical concentration of hemoglobin (blood that transports oxygen from the lungs to body tissues) in erythrocytes (mature red blood cells): The blood diagnosis at the hospital indicated Peter had good normochromasia.