# irregular
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English irreguler, from Old French irreguler, from Medieval Latin or Late Latin irrēgulāris, from in- + regularis, equivalent to ir- +‎ regular.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɪˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.lə/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ɪˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/
* (General Australian) IPA: /ɪˈɹeɡ.jə.lə/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Adjective

irregular (comparative more irregular, superlative most irregular)
* nonstandard; not conforming to rules or expectations
** 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 33:‘ “It would be most irregular Grandpa!” says Miss Cecily frowning and tapping her foot. “Well, we’re a pretty irregular family so that’s neither here nor there,” says the old man, impish like. [...] ’
* rough (of a surface)
* without symmetry, regularity, or uniformity
** 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.
** 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 100:Near by, where the crystal clear River Llugwy is crossed by a bridge, stands a small and ancient church built of massive, irregular boulders.
** 2013 January 1, Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore, “Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, pages 47–48:Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.
** 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
** 2019 October, Tony Miles, Philip Sherratt, “EMR kicks off new era”, in Modern Railways, page 58:The improvements will be most keenly felt across Lincolnshire, where current irregular service patterns are more a function of operational convenience than passenger demand.
* (geometry, of a polygon) not regular; having sides that are not equal or angles that are not equal
* (geometry, of a polyhedron) whose faces are not all regular polygons (or are not equally inclined to each other)
* (grammar, of a word) not following the regular or expected patterns of inflection in a given language
    "Calves", "cacti", and "children" are irregular plurals.
    I hate learning all the irregular conjugations in French.

#### Synonyms

* (nonstandard): abnormal, singular; see also Thesaurus:strange
* (rough): coarse, salebrous; see also Thesaurus:rough
* (without uniformity): unstable, unsteady; see also Thesaurus:unsteady
* (not following the regular patterns of inflection): heteroclite

#### Antonyms

* regular

#### Derived terms

* irregular galaxy
* irregularity
* irregularly
* irregular prime
* irregular prism
* irregular verb
* irregular warfare
* on an irregular basis
* stereoirregular

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

irregular (plural irregulars)
* A soldier who is not a member of an official military force and who may not use regular army tactics.
* One who does not regularly attend a venue.
** 2015, Brian Cook, Hands Across The Sea, page 190:There's one neighborhood tavern where the regulars and irregulars go after a hard day to unlax and rewind, throw back a few, and just hang out - you know the one.

#### Translations
## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin irrēgulāris.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [i.rə.ɣuˈlar]
* IPA: (Balearic) [i.rə.ɣuˈla]
* IPA: (Valencia) [i.re.ɣuˈlaɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ

### Adjective

irregular m or f (masculine and feminine plural irregulars)
* irregular
    Antonym: regular

#### Derived terms

* irregularment

#### Related terms

* irregularitat

### Further reading

* “irregular” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “irregular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “irregular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “irregular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Etymology

Attested since circa 1300. Borrowed from Late Latin irrēgulāris.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ireɣuˈlaɾ]

### Adjective

irregular m or f (plural irregulares)
* irregular
    Antonym: regular

#### Related terms

* irregularidade

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “yrregular”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “yrregular”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “irregular”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “irregular”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

### Further reading

* “irregular”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin irrēgulāris.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /i.ʁe.ɡuˈlaʁ/ [i.he.ɡuˈlah]
* (Brazil) IPA: /i.ʁe.ɡuˈlaʁ/ [i.he.ɡuˈlah]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /i.ʁe.ɡuˈlaɾ/ [i.he.ɡuˈlaɾ]
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /i.ʁe.ɡuˈlaʁ/ [i.χe.ɡuˈlaχ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /i.ʁe.ɡuˈlaɻ/ [i.he.ɡuˈlaɻ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /i.ʁɨ.ɡuˈlaɾ/ [i.ʁɨ.ɣuˈlaɾ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /i.ʁɨ.ɡuˈlaɾ/ [i.ʁɨ.ɣuˈlaɾ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /i.ʁɨ.ɡuˈla.ɾi/ [i.ʁɨ.ɣuˈla.ɾi]

### Adjective

irregular m or f (plural irregulares)
* irregular; nonstandard
* (grammar) irregular (not following an inflectional paradigm)

#### Antonyms

* regular

#### Derived terms

* irregularmente

#### Related terms

* irregularidade

### Further reading

* “irregular”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin irrēgulāris.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ireɡuˈlaɾ/ [i.re.ɣ̞uˈlaɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: i‧rre‧gu‧lar

### Adjective

irregular m or f (masculine and feminine plural irregulares)
* irregular, uneven, erratic, haphazard
* patchy, spotty, jagged, ragged
* fitful
* (grammar) (of a verb etc.) irregular
    Antonym: regular

#### Derived terms

* irregularmente
* verbo irregular

#### Related terms

* irregularidad
* regular

### Further reading

* “irregular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10