Word definition: common

Etimology


From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ȝemǣne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, mǣne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English samen, somen (“in common, together”) (from Old English samen (“together”)). Doublet of gmina.

adjective


common (comparative commoner or more common, superlative commonest or most common)

Mutual; shared by more than one.

Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.

Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.

Simple, ordinary or vulgar.

(taxonomy) As part of the vernacular name of a species, usually denoting that it is abundant or widely known.

(taxonomy) Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal.

(law) Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.

(grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.

(grammar) Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.

(obsolete) Profane; polluted.

(obsolete) Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

Examples


The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.

Winning the championship is an aim common to the two competitors.

Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

They shared a common dread that he would begin moaning.

common knowledge, common decency, common sense

No man of common humanity, no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it.

It is common to find sharks off this coast.

That loss is common would not make⁠My own less bitter, rather more:⁠Too common! Never morning woreTo evening, but some heart did break.

Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.

"Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common.

Sharks are common in these waters.

It differs from the common blackbird in the size of its beak.

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] .

Machine learning was the most common method of AI listed in patent requests.

Audio

In our daily-diary studies, one source of awe was by far the most common: other people. Regular acts of courage—bystanders defusing fights, subordinates standing up to abusive power holders—inspired awe.

the common folk

This fact was infamous / And ill beseeming any common man, / Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.

above the vulgar flight of common souls

Mr. Crackit had no very great quantity of hair, either upon his head or face, but what he had was of a reddish dye, and tortured into long corkscrew curls, through which he occasionally thrust some very dirty fingers ornamented with large common rings.

Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

If it be asked wherein the utility of some modern extensions of mathematics lies, it must be acknowledged that it is at present difficult to see how they are ever to become applicable to questions of common life or physical science.

She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.

the common daisy

common name vs. scientific name.

common law

As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]

What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

a Dame who her self was as Common as the King's High Way

Related words


synonyms

(mutual): mutual, shared; see also Thesaurus:joint

(usual): normal, ordinary, standard, usual; see also Thesaurus:common

(occurring in large numbers or in a large quantity): widespread; see also Thesaurus:widespread

(ordinary): common-or-garden, everyday; see also Thesaurus:normal

(grammar, gender of coalescence of masculine of feminine): epicene

(grammar, antonym of proper): appellative

antonyms

(mutual): personal, individual, peculiar; see also Thesaurus:sole

(usual): special, exceptional, rare, uncommon; see also Thesaurus:strange

(occurring in large numbers or in a large quantity): rare, uncommon, few and far between

(ordinary): exceptional, extraordinary, noteworthy, special

(vernacular): technical term

noun


common (plural commons)

Mutual good, shared by more than one.

A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

The people; the community.

(law) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.

Examples


Synonym: commons

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.

the weal o' the common

verb


common (third-person singular simple present commons, present participle commoning, simple past and past participle commoned)

(obsolete) To communicate (something).

(obsolete) To converse, talk.

(obsolete) To have sex.

(obsolete) To participate.

(obsolete) To have a joint right with others in common ground.

(obsolete) To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Examples


Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was iscariot and he went his waye, and commened with the hye prestes and officers, how he wolde betraye hym vnto them.

So long as Guyon with her commoned, / Vnto the ground she cast her modest eye […]

Capitaine generall of Flaunders, which amiably enterteyned the sayd Duke, and after they had secretly commoned of.

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