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This is basically the same as roy smith's excellent comment, but I'd like to put a slightly different spin on it.

A normal variety is a variety that has no undue gluing of subvarieties or tangent spaces.

Let me explain what I mean by gluing. Given a variety $X$, a closed sub-scheme $Y \subseteq X$ and a finite (even surjective) map $Y \to Z$, you can glue $X$ and $Z$ along $Y$ (identifying points and tangent information). This is the pushout of the diagram $X \leftarrow Y \rightarrow Z$.

You might not always get a scheme (although you do in the affine case) but you always get an algebraic space. In the affine case, this just corresponds to the pullback in the category of rings.

Example 1: $X = \mathbb{A}^1$ glued to $Z = \bullet$ (one point) along $Y = \bullet, \bullet$ (two points) is a nodal curve.

Example 2: $X = \mathbb{A}^1$ glued to $Z = \bullet$ (one point) along $Y = \star = \text{Spec } k[x]/x^2$ a fuzzy point gives you a cuspidal curve.

Example 3: $X = \mathbb{A}^3$ mathbb{A}^2$glued to$Z = \mathbb{A}^1$along one of the axes$Y = \mathbb{A}^1$via the map$Y \to Z$corresponding to$k[t^2] \subseteq k[t]$gives you the pinch point / Whitney's umbrella =$\text{Spec } k[x^2, xy, y]$. If I recall correctly, all non-normal varieties$W$come about this way for some appropriate choice of normal$X$(the normalization of$W$) and$Y$and$Z$(NOT UNIQUE). Roughly speaking, if you are given$W$and want to construct$X, Y, Z$, do the following: Let$X$be the normalization, let$Z$be some sufficiently deep thickening of the non-normal locus of$X$and let$Y$be some appropriate pre-image scheme of$Z$in$X$. Assuming this is true, you can see that all non-normal things are non-normal because they either have some points identified (as in 1 or 3) or some tangent space information killed / collapsed (as in example 2), or some combination of the two. 1 This is basically the same as roy smith's excellent comment, but I'd like to put a slightly different spin on it. A normal variety is a variety that has no undue gluing of subvarieties or tangent spaces. Let me explain what I mean by gluing. Given a variety$X$, a closed sub-scheme$Y \subseteq X$and a finite (even surjective) map$Y \to Z$, you can glue$X$and$Z$along$Y$(identifying points and tangent information). This is the pushout of the diagram$X \leftarrow Y \rightarrow Z$. You might not always get a scheme (although you do in the affine case) but you always get an algebraic space. In the affine case, this just corresponds to the pullback in the category of rings. Example 1:$X = \mathbb{A}^1$glued to$Z = \bullet$(one point) along$Y = \bullet, \bullet$(two points) is a nodal curve. Example 2:$X = \mathbb{A}^1$glued to$Z = \bullet$(one point) along$Y = \star = \text{Spec } k[x]/x^2$a fuzzy point gives you a cuspidal curve. Example 3:$X = \mathbb{A}^3$glued to$Z = \mathbb{A}^1$along one of the axes$Y = \mathbb{A}^1$via the map$Y \to Z$corresponding to$k[t^2] \subseteq k[t]$gives you the pinch point / Whitney's umbrella =$\text{Spec } k[x^2, xy, y]$. If I recall correctly, all non-normal varieties$W$come about this way for some appropriate choice of normal$X$(the normalization of$W$) and$Y$and$Z$(NOT UNIQUE). Roughly speaking, if you are given$W$and want to construct$X, Y, Z$, do the following: Let$X$be the normalization, let$Z$be some sufficiently deep thickening of the non-normal locus of$X$and let$Y$be some appropriate pre-image scheme of$Z$in$X\$.

Assuming this is true, you can see that all non-normal things are non-normal because they either have some points identified (as in 1 or 3) or some tangent space information killed / collapsed (as in example 2), or some combination of the two.