commoner
Americannoun
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a common person, as distinguished from one with rank, status, etc.
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British.
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any person ranking below a peer; a person without a title of nobility.
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a member of the House of Commons.
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(at Oxford and some other universities) a student who pays the cost to dine at the commons and other expenses and is not supported by any scholarship or foundation.
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a person who has a joint right in common land.
noun
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a person who does not belong to the nobility
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a person who has a right in or over common land jointly with another or others
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a student at a university or other institution who is not on a scholarship
Etymology
Origin of commoner
First recorded in 1350–1400; common + -er 1 ( def. )
Vocabulary lists containing commoner
Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Introductory
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Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Middle School and High School
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European Colonization of North America, Lessons 3–5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One compares her to baseball star Shohei Ohtani, another praises her as a "commoner prime minister".
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
LONDON—It was supposed to be the moment a shamed prince was reduced to humble commoner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
She may have been rich, but Katharine was still a commoner.
From BBC • Sep. 5, 2025
Catherine, an upper-middle-class commoner who married into the British royal family in 2011, had also been plagued by rumors about trouble in her marriage during that time.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2024
Proud lords whose houses went back thousands of years made way reluctantly for the balding, frog-faced commoner as he marched past.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
