normal temperature [L, norma, rule, temperatura] , for a normal person at rest, an oral clinical temperature of 98.6° F or 37° C. Actual “normal” temperatures may range a fraction of a degree or increments of a whole degree higher or lower because of effects of sleep, exercise, eating, sleeping, metabolism, and the ambient temperature. Rectal temperature also averages a fraction of a degree higher than oral temperatures, and axillary readings are usually lower than oral temperatures.
