common noun

American  

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.

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common noun British  

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

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Etymology

Origin of common noun

First recorded in 1860–65

Compare meaning

How does common-noun compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• common noun vs. proper noun

Example Sentences

Surprisingly, the team’s results suggest that at least 10 to 30 quantifiably different concept variants exist for even common nouns such as penguin.

From Scientific American

To some, lowercase-c “chautauqua” is a common noun, used as shorthand for an educational event composed of lectures, performances and/or concerts, and not tied to any particular geographic setting.

From Washington Post

It’s used as a common noun and can be pluralized or singular, for instance: “you should set a passkey for your banking app.”

From The Verge

Not to mention that the common noun “objection” fails to qualify as a “name, phrase, title, etc.”

From Washington Post

Our current debates about our society's problems and prospects need to refocus beyond the different adjectives for a common noun they qualify.

From Salon