common noun

noun

, Grammar.

1. a noun that may be preceded by an article or other limiting modifier and that denotes any or all of a class of entities and not an individual, as man, city, horse, music.

common noun

noun

1. grammar a noun that refers to each member of a whole class sharing the features connoted by the noun, as for example planet, orange, and drum Compare proper noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of common noun¹

First recorded in 1860–65