Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Particular \Par*tic"u*lar\, a. [OE. particuler, F. particulier,
L. particularis. See {Particle}.]
1. Relating to a part or portion of anything; concerning a
part separated from the whole or from others of the class;
separate; sole; single; individual; specific; as, the
particular stars of a constellation. --Shak.
[/Make] each particular hair to stand an end, Like
quills upon the fretful porpentine. --Shak.
Seken in every halk and every herne Particular
sciences for to lerne. --Chaucer.
2. Of or pertaining to a single person, class, or thing;
belonging to one only; not general; not common; hence,
personal; peculiar; singular. ``Thine own particular
wrongs.'' --Shak.
Wheresoever one plant draweth such a particular
juice out of the earth. --Bacon.
3. Separate or distinct by reason of superiority;
distinguished; important; noteworthy; unusual; special;
as, he brought no particular news; she was the particular
belle of the party.
4. Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute;
circumstantial; precise; as, a full and particular account
of an accident; hence, nice; fastidious; as, a man
particular in his dress.
5. (Law)
(a) Containing a part only; limited; as, a particular
estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder.
(b) Holding a particular estate; as, a particular tenant.
--Blackstone.
6. (Logic) Forming a part of a genus; relatively limited in
extension; affirmed or denied of a part of a subject; as,
a particular proposition; -- opposed to {universal}: e. g.
(particular affirmative) Some men are wise; (particular
negative) Some men are not wise.
{Particular average}. See under {Average}.
{Particular Baptist}, one of a branch of the Baptist
denomination the members of which hold the doctrine of a
particular or individual election and reprobation.
{Particular lien} (Law), a lien, or a right to retain a
thing, for some charge or claim growing out of, or
connected with, that particular thing.
{Particular redemption}, the doctrine that the purpose, act,
and provisions of redemption are restricted to a limited
number of the human race. See {Calvinism}.
Syn: Minute; individual; respective; appropriate; peculiar;
especial; exact; specific; precise; critical;
circumstantial. See {Minute}.
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 perh. 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}.]
1. (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.
2. [Cf. F. avarie damage to ship or cargo.] (Com.)
(a) A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.]
(b) Any charge in addition to the regular charge for
freight of goods shipped.
(c) A contribution to a loss or charge which has been
imposed upon one of several for the general benefit;
damage done by sea perils.
(d) 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.