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common noun

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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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Compare proper noun.

Origin of common noun

First recorded in 1860–65
Also called common name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for common noun

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 drumCompare proper noun
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012