common

[ kom-uhn ]

/ ˈkɒm ən /

|||

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adjective, com·mon·er, com·mon·est.

belonging equally to, or shared alike by, two or more or all in question: common property; common interests.

pertaining or belonging equally to an entire community, nation, or culture; public: a common language or history; a common water-supply system.

joint; united: a common defense.

widespread; general; ordinary: common knowledge.

of frequent occurrence; usual; familiar: a common event; a common mistake.

hackneyed; trite.

of mediocre or inferior quality; mean; low: a rough-textured suit of the most common fabric.

coarse; vulgar: common manners.

lacking rank, station, distinction, etc.; unexceptional; ordinary: a common soldier; common people; the common man; a common thief.

Dialect. friendly; sociable; unaffected.

Anatomy. forming or formed by two or more parts or branches: the common carotid arteries.

Prosody. (of a syllable) able to be considered as either long or short.

Grammar.

not belonging to an inflectional paradigm; fulfilling different functions that in some languages require different inflected forms: English nouns are in the common case whether used as subject or object.
constituting one of two genders of a language, especially a gender comprising nouns that were formerly masculine or feminine: Swedish nouns are either common or neuter.
noting a word that may refer to either a male or a female: French élève has common gender. English lacks a common gender pronoun in the third person singular.
(of a noun) belonging to the common gender.

Mathematics. bearing a similar relation to two or more entities.

of, relating to, or being common stock: common shares.

noun

Often commons. Chiefly New England. a tract of land owned or used jointly by the residents of a community, usually a central square or park in a city or town.

Law. the right or liberty, in common with other persons, to take profit from the land or waters of another, as by pasturing animals on another's land (common of pasturage) or fishing in another's waters (common of piscary).

commons, (used with a singular or plural verb)

the commonalty; the nonruling class.
the body of people not of noble birth or not ennobled, as represented in England by the House of Commons.
(initial capital letter) the representatives of this body.
(initial capital letter) the House of Commons.

commons,

(used with a singular verb) a large dining room, especially at a university or college.
(usually used with a plural verb)British. food provided in such a dining room.
(usually used with a plural verb) food or provisions for any group.

(sometimes initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical.

an office or form of service used on a festival of a particular kind.
the ordinary of the Mass, especially those parts sung by the choir.
the part of the missal and breviary containing Masses and offices of those saints assigned to them.

Obsolete.

the community or public.
the common people.

Nearby words

commodity, commodity exchange, commodity futures trading commission, commodore, commodus, common, common agricultural policy, common antigen, common basal vein, common bile duct, common business oriented language

Idioms

in common, in joint possession or use; shared equally: They have a love of adventure in common.

Origin of common

1250–1300; Middle English comun < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin commūnis common, presumably orig. “sharing common duties,” akin to mūnia duties of an office, mūnus task, duty, gift < a base *moin-, cognate with mean²; cf. com-, immune

SYNONYMS FOR common

4 universal, prevalent, popular.

5 customary, everyday.

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ANTONYMS FOR common

1 individual.

5 unusual.

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Related forms

com·mon·ness, nouno·ver·com·mon, adjectiveo·ver·com·mon·ly, adverbo·ver·com·mon·ness, noun

qua·si-com·mon, adjectivequa·si-com·mon·ly, adverb

Can be confused

common mutual reciprocal (see usage note at mutual)

Synonym study

4. See general. 7–9. Common, vulgar, ordinary refer, often with derogatory connotations of cheapness or inferiority, to what is usual or most often experienced. Common applies to what is accustomed, usually experienced, or inferior, to the opposite of what is exclusive or aristocratic: The park is used by the common people. Vulgar properly means belonging to the people, or characteristic of common people; it connotes low taste, coarseness, or ill breeding: the vulgar view of things; vulgar in manners and speech. Ordinary refers to what is to be expected in the usual order of things; it means average or below average: That is a high price for something of such ordinary quality.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for commons

The women standing on the green outside the House of Commons gave little impression of being suppressed.
Britain’s Record-Breaking Face-Sitting Porn Protest|Nico Hines|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Earlier this month, the House of Commons voted to approve an anti-ISIS air combat role for Canada.
Terrorist Ends Canada’s Innocence|Tim Mak|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
British prime ministers, of course, are elected based on which party wins the most seats in the House of Commons.
An Independent Scotland Will Hurt Labour|Michael Tomasky|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Take a look at this map of House of Commons constituencies in the UK.
An Independent Scotland Will Hurt Labour|Michael Tomasky|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

That resistance, so far, has forced the British prime minister to limit what he will call for in the Commons.
Will The Latest ISIS Beheading Move Britain To Tougher Action?|Jamie Dettmer|September 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The minister there, who introduces his plans, must be a member of the House of Commons.
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. I (of 16)|Thomas Hart Benton
There is a petition of the commons, in the roll of the 4th of Henry IV.
View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 (of 3)|Henry Hallam
Up to recent times, the unwritten law of the House of Commons with respect to dress was severe.
The Strand Magazine, Volume VII, Issue 42, June, 1894|Various
There shall be more and larger parliaments henceforth, and the Commons may speak their will freely.
With the Black Prince|William Osborn Stoddard
He saw his views better supported in the House of Commons than they had been when he was last within its walls.
Oliver Cromwell|Samuel Rawson Gardiner

British Dictionary definitions for commons (1 of 3)

commons

/ (ˈkɒmənz) /

noun

(functioning as plural) people not of noble birth viewed as forming a political order

(functioning as plural) the lower classes as contrasted to the ruling classes of society; the commonalty

(functioning as singular) British a building or hall for dining, recreation, etc, usually attached to a college

(usually functioning as plural) British food or rations (esp in the phrase short commons)

British Dictionary definitions for commons (2 of 3)

Commons

/ (ˈkɒmənz) /

noun

the Commons See House of Commons

British Dictionary definitions for commons (3 of 3)

common

/ (ˈkɒmən) /

adjective

belonging to or shared by two or more peoplecommon property

belonging to or shared by members of one or more nations or communities; publica common culture

of ordinary standard; averagecommon decency

prevailing; widespreadcommon opinion

widely known or frequently encountered; ordinarya common brand of soap

widely known and notoriousa common nuisance

derogatory considered by the speaker to be low-class, vulgar, or coarsea common accent

(prenominal) having no special distinction, rank, or statusthe common man

maths

having a specified relationship with a group of numbers or quantitiescommon denominator
(of a tangent) tangential to two or more circles

prosody (of a syllable) able to be long or short, or (in nonquantitative verse) stressed or unstressed

grammar (in certain languages) denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns, esp one that includes both masculine and feminine referentsLatin sacerdos is common

anatomy

having branchesthe common carotid artery
serving more than one functionthe common bile duct

Christianity of or relating to the common of the Mass or divine office

common or garden informal ordinary; unexceptional

noun

(sometimes plural) a tract of open public land, esp one now used as a recreation area

law the right to go onto someone else's property and remove natural products, as by pasturing cattle or fishing (esp in the phrase right of common)

Christianity

a form of the proper of the Mass used on festivals that have no special proper of their own
the ordinary of the Mass

archaic the ordinary people; the public, esp those undistinguished by rank or title

in common mutually held or used with another or others

Derived Forms

commonness, noun

Word Origin for common

C13: from Old French commun, from Latin commūnis general, universal

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

Idioms and Phrases with commons

common

In addition to the idioms beginning with common

common cause
common ground
common touch, the

also see:

in common