Definition of COMMON

common

Plural: commons

Noun

  • An area of land owned or used by the public.
  • a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area
  • Mutual good, shared by more than one.
  • A tract of land in common ownership; common land.
  • The people; the community.
  • 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.

Adjective

  • Occurring frequently; ordinary or widespread.
  • belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
    • "for the common good"
    • "common lands are set aside for use by all members of a community"
  • having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual
    • "the common man"
    • "a common sailor"
    • "the common cold"
    • "a common nuisance"
    • "followed common procedure"
    • "it is common knowledge that she lives alone"
    • "the common housefly"
    • "a common brand of soap"

Adjective Satellite

  • common to or shared by two or more parties
    • "a common friend"
  • commonly encountered
    • "a common (or familiar) complaint"
  • being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language
    • "common parlance"
  • of or associated with the great masses of people
    • "the common people in those days suffered greatly"
    • "behavior that branded him as common"
  • of low or inferior quality or value; - Shakespeare
    • "produced...the common cloths used by the poorer population"
  • lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
    • "behavior that branded him as common"
  • to be expected; standard
    • "common decency"

Adj

  • Mutual; shared by more than one.
  • Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.
  • Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.
  • Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.
  • Simple, ordinary or vulgar.
  • As part of the vernacular name of a species, usually denoting that it is abundant or widely known.
  • Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal.
  • Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.
  • Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.
  • Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.
  • Profane; polluted.
  • Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

Verb

  • To communicate (something).
  • To converse, talk.
  • To have sex.
  • To participate.
  • To have a joint right with others in common ground.
  • To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Examples

  • "Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common.
  • common knowledge, common decency, common sense
  • common law
  • It differs from the common blackbird in the size of its beak.
  • It is common to find sharks off this coast.
  • It’s common to misspell a word under the pressure of a Scrabble timer.
  • Placing COMMON across two double letter squares secured a good score.
  • Sharks are common in these waters.
  • the common daisy (Bellis perennis)
  • the common folk
  • The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.
  • Winning the championship is an aim common to the two competitors.

Origin / 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 (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ȝemǣne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, mǣne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English samen, somen (“in common, together”) (from Old English samen (“together”)). Doublet of gmina and mean.

Synonyms

coarse, commons, green, mutual, park, plebeian, rough-cut, uncouth, unwashed, usual, vernacular, vulgar, appellative, average, banal, basic, bog standard, common, common as bums, common as muck, common or garden variety, common-or-garden, commonplace, conventional, dime a dozen, everyday, familiar, garden variety, gender of coalescence of masculine of feminine, general, joint, nonrare, normal, ordinary, par for the course, pedestrian, plain, plain Jane, plain vanilla, quotidian, regular, routinary, routine, run-of-the-mill, shared, standard, standard issue, ten a penny, two a penny, typical, widespread, workaday

Scrabble Score: 12

common: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
common: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
common: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

common: valid Words With Friends Word