The Collaborative International Dictionary
Average \Av"er*age\, n. [OF. average, LL. averagium, prob. fr. OF. aver, F. avoir, property, horses, cattle, etc.; prop. infin., to have, from L. habere to have. Cf. F. av['e]rage small cattle, and avarie (perh. of different origin) damage to ship or cargo, port dues. The first meaning was perhaps the service of carting a feudal lord's wheat, then charge for carriage, the contribution towards loss of things carried, in proportion to the amount of each person's property. Cf. Aver, n., Avercorn, Averpenny.]
(OLd Eng. Law) That service which a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the carriage of wheat, turf, etc.
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[Cf. F. avarie damage to ship or cargo.] (Com.)
A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.]
Any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight of goods shipped.
A contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils.
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The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or expense among all interested.
General average, a contribution made, by all parties concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice.
--Kent.Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident; and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles damaged, or by their insurers.
Petty averages are sundry small charges, which occur regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of lading, ``primage and average accustomed,'' average means a kind of composition established by usage for such charges, which were formerly assessed by way of average.
--Arnould.
--Abbott.
--Phillips.
A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10.
Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity, quality, rate, etc. ``The average of sensations.''
--Paley.-
pl. In the English corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
On an average, taking the mean of unequal numbers or quantities.
Usage examples of "on an average".
The Guiana Current carried them along at twenty nautical miles per day, to which was added another forty-eight, on an average, by means of kedging.
It would suffice to keep up the lull number of a tree, which lived on an average for a thousand years, of a single seed were produced once in a thousand years, supposing that this seed were never destroyed, and could be ensured to germinate in a fitting place.
The thermometer stood on an average at 8 degrees below zero, and the water in the cistern was completely frozen.
Louis, take her to New Orleans and back, and discharge cargo, consumed about twenty-five days, on an average.
Philip looked around again, as he did on an average of once every thirty seconds, to see if anyone was listening.
There was certainly no garden plot at the station, swept as it was by tides on an average of once a month.
The Baths of Leuk, or Loeche-les-Bains, or Leukerbad, is a little village at the very head of the valley, over four thousand feet above the sea, and overhung by the perpendicular walls of the Gemmi, which rise on all sides, except the south, on an average of two thousand feet above it.
I did not count the tentacles on these leaves, which were moderately fine ones, but as the average number on thirtyone leaves was 192, it would be safe to assume that each bore on an average at least 160.
The missionaries, who alone possess the means of ascertaining nearly the number that is thus sacrificed in the capital, differ very materially in their statements: taking the mean, as given by those with whom we conversed on the subject, I should conclude that about twenty four infants were on an average, in Pekin, daily carried to the pit of death….