English
common
see also: Common
Etymology

From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī in Old French -), from Latin commūnis, from Proto-Indo-European , from Proto-Indo-European *mey-.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) enPR: kŏm'ən, IPA: /ˈkɒm.ən/
  • (America) enPR: kä'mən, IPA: /ˈkɑ.mən/, /ˈkɑ.mɪn/
  • (obsolete) enPR: kŏm'ŭn, IPA: /ˈkɒm.ʌn/
Adjective

common (comparative commoner, superlative commonest)

  1. Mutual; shared by more than one.
    The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.
    Winning the championship is an aim common to the two competitors.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
    • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC ↗, page 169 ↗:
      They shared a common dread that he would begin moaning.
  2. Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.
    common knowledge, common decency, common sense
    • 1813 January 26, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC ↗, page 197 ↗:
      No man of common humanity, no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it.
  3. Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.
    It is common to find sharks off this coast.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto VI:
      That loss is common would not make
      ⁠My own less bitter, rather more:
      ⁠Too common! Never morning wore
      To evening, but some heart did break.
  4. Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.
    "Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common.
    Sharks are common in these waters.
    It differs from the common blackbird in the size of its beak.
  5. 2023 January 3, Dacher Keltner, “The Quiet Profundity of Everyday Awe”, in The Atlantic‎[https://web.archive.org/web/20230314181038/https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/01/feeling-in-awe-take-walk-visual-art/672617/], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN ↗, →OCLC ↗, archived from the original ↗ on 2023-03-14:
    In our daily-diary studies, one source of awe was by far the most common: other people. Regular acts of courage—bystanders defusing fights, subordinates standing up to abusive power holders—inspired awe.
  6. Simple, ordinary or vulgar.
    the common folk
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
      This fact was infamous / And ill beseeming any common man, / Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.
    • 1768, Arthur Murphy, Zenobia:
      above the vulgar flight of common souls
    • 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Burglary”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 35 ↗:
      Mr. Crackit (for he it was) had no very great quantity of hair, either upon his head or face, but what he had was of a reddish dye, and tortured into long corkscrew curls, through which he occasionally thrust some very dirty fingers ornamented with large common rings.
    • 1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC ↗, part I, page 3:
      Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.
    • 1893, Florian Cajori, A History of Mathematics:
      If it be asked wherein the utility of some modern extensions of mathematics lies, it must be acknowledged that it is at present difficult to see how they are ever to become applicable to questions of common life or physical science.
    • 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey's Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC ↗, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382 ↗, column 2:
      She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had expected to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven, burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.
  7. (taxonomy) As part of the vernacular name of a species, usually denoting that it is abundant or widely known.
    the common daisy (Bellis perennis)
  8. (taxonomy) Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal.
    common name vs. scientific name.
  9. (law) Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.
    common law
    • 1765, William Blackstone, “Of Corporations”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC ↗, page 469 ↗:
      As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]
  10. (grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.
  11. (grammar) Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.
  12. (obsolete) Profane; polluted.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Acts 10:15 ↗:
      What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
  13. (obsolete) Given to lewd habits; prostitute.
    • 1692, Roger L'Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC ↗:
      a Dame who her self was as Common as the King's High Way
Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

common (plural commons)

  1. Mutual good, shared by more than one.
  2. A tract of land in common ownership; common land.
    Synonyms: commons
  3. The people; the community.
    • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
      the weal o' the common
  4. (legal) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.
Translations Translations Verb

common (commons, present participle commoning; simple past and past participle commoned)

  1. (obsolete) To communicate (something).
    • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC ↗, Luke:
      Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was iscariot (which was of the nombre off the twelve) and he went his waye, and commened with the hye prestes and officers, how he wolde betraye hym vnto them.
  2. (obsolete) To converse, talk.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:
      So long as Guyon with her commoned, / Vnto the ground she cast her modest eye […]
    • 1568-1569, Richard Grafton, Chronicle
      Capitaine generall of Flaunders, which amiably enterteyned the sayd Duke, and after they had secretly commoned of.
  3. (obsolete) To have sex.
  4. (obsolete) To participate.
  5. (obsolete) To have a joint right with others in common ground.
  6. (obsolete) To board together; to eat at a table in common.
Common
Etymology 1

Probably a variant of Cumming or a reduced form of McCommon.

Proper noun
  1. Surname.
Proper noun
  1. (scifi, fantasy) Denoting the name of a universal language in various works.
    Synonyms: Standard


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