common

Mutual; shared by more than one.

Adjective

  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.
    • 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,...

    Synonyms: mutual shared collective common corporate joint united

    Antonyms: personal individual peculiar first and last lone one one and only only single singular sole solitary unitary

  2. Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.
    • common knowledge, common decency, common sense
    • No man of common humanity, no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it. - 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for...

    Synonyms: catholic general common ecumenical generic nonsingular nonspecific universal unparticular unsingular unspecific

    Antonyms: individual particular concrete discrete peculiar proper singular specific

  3. Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.
    • It is common to find sharks off this coast.
    • Thus it is sayde in the cōmon vsage. - 1530?, Robert Wyer, This boke is named the beaulte of women : translated out of Frenche in to Englysshe., page 8:
    • 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. - 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto VI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward...

    Synonyms: normal ordinary standard usual

    Antonyms: special exceptional rare uncommon aberrant abnormal alien anomalous as queer as Dick's hatband bizarre booky curious deviant discrepant eerie eldritch errant extraordinary fey forby freak freakish freaky fremd

  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.

    Synonyms: extensive prevalent ubiquitous common disseminated far-flung pervasive predominant prevailing regnant rife spread out systemic universal widespread

    Antonyms: rare uncommon few and far between dearthy geason infrequent in short supply raresome scant scantling scarce selcouth seld seldom selly superrare unfrequent

  5. Simple, ordinary or vulgar.
    • the common folk
    • This fact was infamous / And ill beseeming any common man, / Much more a knight, a captain and a leader. - 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares...
    • above the vulgar flight of common souls - 1768, Arthur Murphy, Zenobia:

    Synonyms: common-or-garden everyday average medial basic bog-standard common commonplace common-and-garden congruent consistent conventional customary expected garden variety improminent mundane natural normal ordinary par for the course plain plain vanilla quotidian

    Antonyms: exceptional extraordinary noteworthy special

  6. As part of the vernacular name of a species, usually denoting that it is abundant or widely known.
    • the common daisy (Bellis perennis)
  7. Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal.
    • common name vs. scientific name.

    Antonyms: technical term

    Hypernyms: nonsystematic

  8. Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.
    • common law
    • 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...
  9. Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.

    Synonyms: epicene

  10. Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.

    Synonyms: appellative

  11. Profane; polluted.
    • What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 10:15:

    Synonyms: impure unhallowed corrupted tainted common impious mishallowed profane unholy adulterated contaminated mixed polluted sophisticated

    Antonyms: hallowed sanctified immaculate pristine blessed celestial devoutful divine heavenly holy godly sacred sanctimonious clean clean as a bean clean as a hound's tooth clean as a new penny clean as a new pin clean as a whistle spick-and-span spotless squeaky clean stainless unsoiled

  12. Given to lewd habits; prostitute.
    • a Dame who her self was as Common as the King's High Way - 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […],...

    Synonyms: easy lustful wanton abandoned common fast lascivious lewd liberal libidinous licentious loose lusty promiscuous riggish slack unchaste wappened

    Antonyms: chaste pure cherry undeflowered unfucked unsullied vestal virgin virginal

Origin

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.

Forms

commoner most common commonest

Synonyms

average basic bog-standard common common as bums common as dirt common as muck common as pig tracks dime a dozen everyday frequent general habitual nonrare par for the course pedestrian plain quotidian regular routinary routine ten a penny two a penny usual

Antonyms

abnormal atypical exceptional exotic uncommon endangered extraordinary rare strange unconventional unique unusual

Hypernyms

repeated

Hyponyms

supercommon boring hackneyed seasonal

Related

feminine female masculine male neuter frequency mediocre normal

Noun

  1. Mutual good, shared by more than one.
  2. A tract of land in common ownership; common land.
    • The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the...
    • Throughout the land there is a great variation in the shape and size of village greens, from the many of pocket-handkerchief size to a roadside common of 20 acres or more - as at Lindfield in West Sussex. - 1980, AA...

    Synonyms: commons

  3. The people; the community.
    • the weal o' the common - c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  4. 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.

Forms

commons

Verb

  1. To communicate (something).
    • 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. - 1526,...

    Synonyms: articulate convey express common communicate make known outspeak portray put utter

  2. To converse, talk.
    • So long as Guyon with her commoned, / Vnto the ground she cast her modest eye […] - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
    • 1568-1569, Richard Grafton, Chronicle Capitaine generall of Flaunders, which amiably enterteyned the sayd Duke, and after they had secretly commoned of.

    Synonyms: chat discourse treat common confab confabulate conversate converse convo jaw parley word

  3. To have sex.

    Synonyms: company know shag approach cohabit common copulate couple engage in sex exchange flesh have intimate relations have marital relations have sex have sexual relations intercourse know someone in the biblical sense make love mate share a bed sleep together strain bang bauf beat

  4. To participate.

    Synonyms: join in take part

  5. To have a joint right with others in common ground.
  6. To board together; to eat at a table in common.

    Synonyms: fadge mess

Forms

commons commoning commoned

Derived

ASEAN Common Time Asian common toad by common consent commonable common adder common ageratum common agouti common alder) commonality common allamanda commonalty common amaranth common American shad common amsinckia common ancestor common-and-garden common antilog common antilogarithm common apricot common area common arrowhead common arum lily common as bums common as dirt