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• commons
  commons

  noun

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

  noun

  See House of Commons

commons

¹ British  

/ ˈkɒmənz /

noun

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

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

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

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

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Commons ² British  

/ ˈkɒmənz /

noun

1. See House of Commons

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Explanation

A commons is a piece of land that belongs to everyone in a community. The commons in the middle of a village might be a green space that's available for gatherings and celebrations. One way to think of the commons is as public land or space — roadways, town parks, public beaches, and sidewalks could all potentially be defined as part of the commons. Nobody owns the commons, and when some part of it becomes privately owned, it's called privatization. The word commons comes from the Latin root communis, which means both "in common, shared by all, or general," and also "common property."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

commons Commons

Unauthorized leaks aren’t as commons as they are in the music and movie industries, but they do occur.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

The good kind includes security alliances and trade deals to advance U.S. interests, plus efforts to solve tragedies of the commons like overfishing or Ebola.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

By the time of her death she was refusing to drink, despite desperate efforts to hydrate her, and the inquest was told this was sign of hydrophobia, a fear of water commons in rabies cases.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

Succession concluded before generative A.I. overcame the creative commons, but it’s likely the budget-slashing Tom would have readily embraced the tech much as D’Amaro has.

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026

Most of the Europeans who traveled to what they called the New World in 1492 and after were those whose families had been displaced when the commons were converted to private property.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

In 2010, he entered the House of Commons as an MP for Strangford, a position which he still holds.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

In reopening the mall, the billionaire real estate mogul whose company owns the Grove, the Americana at Brand and the Commons at Calabasas has taken something of a risk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

It is due to be debated in the Commons on 11 September.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

And the inquiry was reopened on Friday, according to the House of Commons website.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

When Neville Chamberlain addressed the House of Commons on September 1,1939, his statement of the facts was brief, clear, and plausible, but suffused with moral and emotional judgment.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith