normales

Normales is the plural form of normal in several Romance languages, especially Spanish and Portuguese. It generally denotes standards, typical conditions, or ordinary people, but in technical writing the term has more specialized senses.

In geometry and mathematics, a normal is a line or vector perpendicular to a curve or surface at a given point. The normal to a plane curve is perpendicular to its tangent; for a curved surface, the surface normal is perpendicular to the tangent plane. Normals are fundamental in fields such as geometry, physics, computer-aided design, and computer graphics, where they influence orientation and shading.

In climatology and meteorology, normals refer to long-term average climate values, typically over a 30-year period. Climate normals provide baselines for comparing recent measurements and are updated periodically by weather agencies, such as the World Meteorological Organization and national meteorological services.

In statistics, the term normal is used for the normal distribution; in Spanish-language contexts, discussions often refer to "distribuciones normales" (plural). In everyday language, normals can denote conventional behavior or social norms.

The meaning of "normales" is thus polysemous and context-dependent, spanning mathematics, meteorology, statistics, and ordinary language.