mundane
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English mondeyne, from Old French mondain, from Late Latin mundanus, from Latin mundus (“world”). Compare Danish mondæn.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
mundane (comparative mundaner, superlative mundanest)
- Worldly, earthly, profane, vulgar as opposed to heavenly.
- Pertaining to the Universe, cosmos or physical reality, as opposed to the spiritual world.
- 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
- Amongst mundane bodies, six there are that do perpetually move, and they are the six Planets; of the rest, that is, of the Earth, Sun, and fixed Stars, it is disputable which of them moveth, and which stands still.
- 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
- Ordinary; not new.
- Synonyms: banal, boring, commonplace, everyday, routine, workaday, jejune, pedestrian; see also Thesaurus:boring, Thesaurus:common
- Tedious; repetitive and boring.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:boring
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
worldly
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ordinary
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tedious
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References edit
- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “mundane”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
Noun edit
mundane (plural mundanes)
- An unremarkable, ordinary human being.
- (slang, derogatory, in various subcultures) A person considered to be "normal", part of the mainstream culture, outside the subculture, not part of the elite group.
- 1959 December 1, Ron Bennett, Skyrack[1], number 10:
- THE LIVERPOOL PARTY at Pat and Frank Milnes’ celebrated both the Gunpowder Plot and the Liverpool Club’s 400th and something meeting. Two mundane and non-fan friends of the hosts - women, too - played brag all night and Norman Weedall disappeared at 3 a.m.
- 1989 Spring, Lawrence Person, “Fear and Loathing in New Orleans: A Savage Journey Into the Heart of American Fandom”, in Nova Express, volume 2, number 3 (whole number #7), page 10:
- The Demon Barber and I played Shock the Mundanes. The door would open up and we would start a sentence in mid-imaginary conversation, like—‘Of course, they never found the body.’
- (derogatory, satanism) A person who is not a Satanist.
- (fandom slang, as "the mundane") The world outside fandom; the normal, mainstream world.
- 1966 November, Lee Hoffman, “Our Authors”, in Science-Fiction Five-Yearly[2], number 4, page 35:
- Long famed in fandom, Mr. Bloch skyrocketed to prominence in the mundane when his autobiographical novel, PSYCHO, was made into a hit motion picture.
Synonyms edit
- (ordinary person): See Thesaurus:mundane
- (mainstream person): See Thesaurus:mainstreamer
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Adjective edit
mundāne