commonality
[kom-uh-nal-i-tee]
- a sharing of features or characteristics in common; possession or manifestation of common attributes.
- a feature or characteristic held in common: Historians perceive commonalities of behavior in many eras.
- commonalty(def 1).
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Origin of commonality
1350–1400; Middle English; partial Latinization of commonalty, on basis of presumed Latin *commūnālitās (see -ity)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for commonality
Contemporary Examples
Behind the scenes, the shows share many more points of commonality.
Orange Is the New Weeds: The Adventures of Jenji Kohan Across the 8th DimensionRich Goldstein, Emily Shire
August 18, 2014
The tone of the original series is vastly different, with few points of commonality save for the talking dog.
Now, because of the commonality of the problem, he says, celebrities “are more apt to come forward and report these cases.”
Rock Star Shirley Manson From Garbage Battles a CyberstalkerChristine Pelisek, Chris Lee
July 16, 2012
Historical Examples
Oh, I envy the lot of the commonality in the Rational State!
Crome YellowAldous Huxley
His disdain for the commonality of life still dictated his prejudices.
The Three Black PennysJoseph Hergesheimer
Teacher's Pet might be dowered with all the virtues, but we of the commonality would have none of them.
By the Christmas FireSamuel McChord Crothers
The other commonality this stretch of road shared with Detroit was the obesity of the people she passed.
MakersCory Doctorow
The commonality of Venice imagine themselves free, because they are permitted to do, what they ought not.
commonality
- the fact of being common to more than one individual; commonness
- another word for commonalty (def. 1)
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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
Word Origin and History for commonality
n.
late 14c., "a community," from common (adj.), as if from Latin *communalitas. A respelling of commonalty (late 13c.). Meaning "the common people" is attested from 1580s; that of "state or quality of being shared" is from 1954.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper