common Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area
    green; park; commons.
    • they went for a walk in the park
  2. adjective 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
  3. adjective 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
  4. adjective satellite common to or shared by two or more parties
    mutual.
    • a common friend
    • the mutual interests of management and labor
  5. adjective satellite commonly encountered
    usual.
    • a common (or familiar) complaint
    • the usual greeting
  6. adjective satellite being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language
    vulgar; vernacular.
    • common parlance
    • a vernacular term
    • vernacular speakers
    • the vulgar tongue of the masses
    • the technical and vulgar names for an animal species
  7. adjective satellite of or associated with the great masses of people
    vulgar; plebeian; unwashed.
    • the common people in those days suffered greatly
    • behavior that branded him as common
    • his square plebeian nose
    • a vulgar and objectionable person
    • the unwashed masses
  8. adjective satellite of low or inferior quality or value
    coarse.
    • of what coarse metal ye are molded"- Shakespeare
    • produced...the common cloths used by the poorer population
  9. adjective satellite lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
    rough-cut; uncouth; vulgar; coarse.
    • he had coarse manners but a first-rate mind
    • behavior that branded him as common
    • an untutored and uncouth human being
    • an uncouth soldier--a real tough guy
    • appealing to the vulgar taste for violence
    • the vulgar display of the newly rich
  10. adjective satellite to be expected; standard
    • common decency

WordNet

Com"mon adjective
Etymology
OE. commun, comon, OF. comun, F. commun, fr. L. communis; com- + munis ready to be of service; cf. Skr. mi to make fast, set up, build, Coth. gamains common, G. gemein, and E. mean low, common. Cf. Immunity, Commune, n. & v.
Wordforms
comparative Commoner ; superlative Commonest
Definitions
  1. Belonging or relating equally, or similary, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property.
    Though life and sense be common to men and brutes. Sir M. Hale.
  2. Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, consired together; general; public; as, propertis common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer.
    Such actions as the common good requereth. Hocker.
    The common enemy of man. Shak.
  3. Often met with; usual; frequent; customary.
    Grief more than common grief. Shak.
  4. Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense.
    The honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life. W. Irving.
    This fact was infamous And ill beseeming any common man, Much more a knight, a captain and a leader. Shak.
    Above the vulgar flight of common souls. A. Murpphy.
  5. Profane; polluted. Obs.
    What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. Acts x. 15.
  6. Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute.
    A dame who herself was common. L'Estrange.
    Syn. -- General; public; popular; universal; frequent; ordinary; customary; usual; familiar; habitual; vulgar; mean; trite; stale; threadbare; commonplace. See Mutual, Ordinary, General.
Com"mon noun
Definitions
  1. The people; the community. Obs. "The weal o' the common." Shak.
  2. An inclosed or uninclosed tract of ground for pleasure, for pasturage, etc., the use of which belongs to the public; or to a number of persons.
  3. (Law) 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.
Com"mon intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To converse together; to discourse; to confer. Obs.
    Embassadors were sent upon both parts, and divers means of entreaty were commoned of. Grafton.
  2. To participate. Obs. Sir T. More.
  3. To have a joint right with others in common ground. Johnson.
  4. To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Webster 1913