routine

UK: /ruːˈtiːn/ US: /ruˈtin/ ,(ro̅o̅ tēn′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

rou•tine /ruˈtin/   n. 

1. a regular course of procedure:
   [uncountable] normal office routine.
   [countable] the baby's usual routines of waking, eating, playing, and sleeping.
2. boring procedure done without thinking:
   [uncountable] the dull routine of the assembly line.
3. Computing [countable] a set of instructions directing a computer to perform a certain task.
4. a rehearsed act or performance:
   [countable] a comic routine.
5. an often repeated behavior or speech:
   [countable] that tired old routine of making excuses.

adj. 

6. of the nature of routine:
   routine work.
7. dull or uninteresting;
   commonplace:
   routine boredom.

rou•tine•ly, adv.: 

routinely brownbagged his lunch.

See -rupt-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

rou•tine  (ro̅o̅ tēn′), n. 

1. a customary or regular course of procedure.
2. commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals;
   typical or everyday activity:
   the routine of an office.
3. regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, or rote procedure.
4. an unvarying and constantly repeated formula, as of speech or action;
   convenient or predictable response:
   Don't give me that brotherly-love routine!
5. Computing
   • a complete set of coded instructions directing a computer to perform a series of operations.
   • a series of operations performed by the computer.
6. an individual act, performance, or part of a performance, as a song or dance, given regularly by an entertainer:
   a comic routine; a dance routine.

adj. 

7. of the nature of, proceeding by, or adhering to routine:
   routine duties.
8. dull or uninteresting;
   commonplace.

• French, derivative of route route
• 1670–80

rou•tine′ly, adv. 
rou•tine′ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 8. habitual, ordinary, typical.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

routine / ruːˈtiːn/ noun

1. a usual or regular method of procedure, esp one that is unvarying
2. a program or part of a program performing a specific function: an input routine, an output routine
3. a set sequence of dance steps
4. a hackneyed or insincere speech

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of routine

Etymology: 17th Century: from Old French, from route a customary way, route

rouˈtinely adverb