- regular
- late 14c., from O.Fr. reguler, from L.L. regularis "continuing rules for guidance," from L. regula "rule," from PIE *reg- "move in a straight line" (see regent). Earliest sense was of religious orders (the opposite of secular). Extended 16c. to shapes, etc., that followed predictable or uniform patterns; sense of "normal" is from 1630s; meaning "real, genuine" is from 1821. Meaning "a regular customer" is recorded from 1852.