Common Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Kids Definition of common · 1 : affecting, belonging to, needed by, or used by everybody for the common good a common room · 2 : shared by two or more individuals ... Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut common adjective SaveWord com·​mon |\ˈkä-mən \ EssentialMeaningofcommon 1 :belongingtoorsharedbytwoormorepeopleorgroups Theyhaveacommonancestor.Thepeopleontheislandhaveasenseofcommonidentity.SeeMoreExamplesacommongoal/interestThepoolatthecondominiumsiscommonproperty.[=thepoolisownedbyallofthecondominiumowners]Theorganizationworksforthecommongood.[=thepublicgood;theadvantageofeveryone]Hewaschosenastheleaderbycommonconsent.[=everyoneagreedthatheshouldbetheleader]Hide 2 :donebymanypeople Itiscommonpracticeforonetown'sfiredepartmenttohelpanothertownwhenthereisabigfire.acommonspellingmistake 3 :occurringorappearingfrequently:notrare acommon[=widespread]diseaseBuffalowereonceacommon[=familiar]sightontheAmericanplains.SeeMoreExamplesElectricwindowsareacommonfeatureinnewcars."Smith"isacommonname.Theproblemiscommontolaptopcomputers.=It'scommonforlaptopcomputerstohavethisproblem.Ithinksomeofthemostcommonflowersarealsosomeoftheprettiest.Hide FullDefinitionofcommon (Entry1of2) 1a :oforrelatingtoacommunityatlarge:public workforthecommongood b :knowntothecommunity commonnuisances 2a :belongingtoorsharedbytwoormoreindividualsorthingsorbyallmembersofagroup acommonfriendburiedinacommongravecommoninterests b :belongingequallytotwoormoremathematicalentities triangleswithacommonbase c :havingtwoormorebranches commoncarotidartery 3a :occurringorappearingfrequently:familiar acommonsight b :ofthebestknownormostfrequentlyseenkind —usedespeciallyofplantsandanimalsthecommonhousefly c :vernacularsense2 commonnames 4a :widespread,general commonknowledge b :characterizedbyalackofprivilegeorspecialstatus commonpeopleacommonlaborer c :justsatisfyingaccustomedcriteria:elementary commondecency 5a :fallingbelowordinarystandards:second-rate Ohhardisthebedtheyhavemadehim,/Andcommontheblanketandcheap…—A.E.Housman b :lackingrefinement:coarse said,inhiscommonvulgarway,thecitywouldhavetolumpit—J.K.Jerome 6 :denotingnominalrelationsbyasinglelinguisticformthatinamorehighlyinflectedlanguagemightbedenotedbytwoormoredifferentforms commongendercommoncase 7 :of,relatingto,orbeingcommonstock common noun Definitionofcommon (Entry2of2) 1 commonsplural :thecommonpeople 2 commonspluralinformbutsingularinconstruction :adininghall Studentsusuallyhavetheirmealsatthecommons. 3 commonsorCommonspluralinformbutsingularorpluralinconstruction a :thepoliticalgrouporestatecomprisingthecommoners b :theparliamentaryrepresentativesofthecommoners c :houseofcommons 4 :thelegalrightoftakingaprofitinanother'slandincommonwiththeownerorothers 5 :apieceoflandsubjecttocommonuse:suchas a :undividedlandusedespeciallyforpasture b :apublicopenareainamunicipality Afoodandjazzfestivalwillbeheldatthetowncommon. 6a :areligiousservicesuitableforanyofvariousfestivals b :ordinarysense3 7 :commonstock incommon :sharedtogether hasalotincommonwithhisneighbors OtherWordsfromcommon Synonyms&Antonyms ChoosetheRightSynonym MoreExampleSentences LearnMoreAboutcommon OtherWordsfromcommon Adjective commonly adverb commonness \ ˈkä-​mən-​nəs \ noun Synonyms&Antonymsforcommon Synonyms:Adjective commonorgarden [chieflyBritish], commonplace, everyday, familiar, frequent, garden-variety, household, ordinary, quotidian, routine, ubiquitous, usual Synonyms:Noun commoners, crowd, herd, hoipolloi, mass, millions, mob, multitude, people, plebeians, plebs, populace, public, rankandfile Antonyms:Adjective extraordinary, infrequent, rare, seldom, uncommon, unfamiliar, unusual Antonyms:Noun A-list, aristocracy, best, choice, corpsd'elite, cream, elect, elite, fat, flower, pick, pink, pride, uppercrust VisittheThesaurusforMore  ChoosetheRightSynonymforcommon Adjective common,ordinary,plain,familiar,popular,vulgarmeangenerallymetwithandnotinanywayspecial,strange,orunusual.commonimpliesusualeverydayqualityorfrequencyofoccurrence acommonerror lackedcommonhonesty andmayadditionallysuggestinferiorityorcoarseness. commonmanners ordinarystressesconformanceinqualityorkindwiththeregularorderofthings. anordinarypleasantsummerday averyordinarysortofman plainislikelytosuggesthomelysimplicity. plainhard-workingpeople familiarstressesthefactofbeinggenerallyknownandeasilyrecognized. afamiliarmelody popularappliestowhatisacceptedbyorprevalentamongpeopleingeneralsometimesincontrasttoupperclassesorspecialgroups. awriterofpopularromances vulgar,otherwisesimilartopopular,islikelytocarryderogatoryconnotations(asofinferiorityorcoarseness). souvenirsdesignedtoappealtothevulgartaste ExamplesofcommoninaSentence Adjective Theyhaveacommonancestor. Thepeopleontheislandhaveasenseofcommonidentity. Itiscommonpracticeforonetown'sfiredepartmenttohelpanothertownwhenthereisabigfire. Electricwindowsareacommonfeatureinnewcars. “Smith”isacommonname. Ithinksomeofthemostcommonflowersarealsosomeoftheprettiest. curesforthecommoncold Noun Thecampushasseveraldiningcommons. SeeMore RecentExamplesontheWeb:Adjective Thestudyisoneofthefirstinthecountrytolookatthelong-termcostsofwildfires,aphenomenonthathasbecomeincreasinglycommonacrossthesouthwest. — ZaynaSyed,TheArizonaRepublic,30Nov.2021 Withupwardsof80containershipslanguishingoffthecoastofSouthernCalifornia,patientsandmedicalsuppliersareworriedthatstorieslikeGenung’swillbecomeincreasinglycommon. — KristenHwang,SanFranciscoChronicle,28Nov.2021 InIllinois,scientistsexpecttoseeextremes,includingexceptionallywarmdays,moreintenserainsandlongerdryspells,becomemorecommon. — MorganGreene,chicagotribune.com,26Nov.2021 Thisnightmarishscenariocouldbecomecommoninthecomingyears. — MichelleMcmurry-heathAnd HenrySkinner,Fortune,25Nov.2021 WhiletheamountBidenisreleasingisunprecedented,themethodsforwithdrawingoilhavebecomemorecommon,aslawmakersusethereservestobalancethebudget—andoffsetdisruptionsfromhurricanes. — NBCNews,24Nov.2021 Turnoutwasbelow50%,whichhasbecomemorecommonsincevotingwasmadevoluntary. — al,22Nov.2021 EvenaspublicofficialsthroughoutConnecticutdiscussclimatechangewithincreasingurgency,andaselectricvehiclesbecomemorecommonamongresidents,mostleadershavenotembracedthenewtechnology. — AlexPutterman,courant.com,21Nov.2021 ThedrughasbecomeincreasinglycommonintheU.S.inthepastdecade,andhascontributedtoagrowingnumberofoverdosedeaths. — GretaBjornson,PEOPLE.com,19Nov.2021 RecentExamplesontheWeb:Noun In2020,thedisplaywasscaleddownsignificantly—withjust1,000flagsliningthecommon. — BostonGlobe.com,24May2021 Foralltheirdifferences,everyACAANhasonefeatureincommon:Atsomepoint,themagiciantouchesthecards. — NewYorkTimes,23May2021 Evenpoliticianswhohavelittleincommonseemedtouniteintheirmisgivingsabouttheleague. — WashingtonPost,19Apr.2021 Theseshortstoriesshareacommonthroughlineofdeathanddarkness,andthey’rewrittenfromthesuppositionthatday-to-daylifeisn’tmundane,butaggressively(andhilariously)cruel. — BrianBoone,Vulture,7Apr.2021 Overuseofnationalparksisoftencitedasanexampleofthetragedyofthecommons,aneconomictheorythatdescribeshowpeoplesometimesusenaturalresourcestotheiradvantagewithoutconsideringthegoodofsocietyasawhole. — NationalGeographic,24Mar.2020 Ourworldandoursocietiesexpectcertainthings--freepassagewayinthecommons,freetrade,etcetera,etcetera. — CBSNews,18Mar.2020 Thosemeasuresinclude:Deployedadditionalhand-sanitizingstationsatallfoodandbeveragelocations,ArmstrongStudentCenter,diningcommons,Starbucks,TheMarcumhotel,allmarkets,Brick&Ivy,1809andtheCampusServicesCenter. — MadelineMitchell,Cincinnati.com,29Jan.2020 Theirapproachisn'tuniformbuthasonethemeincommon:caution. — IvanaKottasová,CNN,10May2020 Theseexamplesentencesareselectedautomaticallyfromvariousonlinenewssourcestoreflectcurrentusageoftheword'common.'ViewsexpressedintheexamplesdonotrepresenttheopinionofMerriam-Websteroritseditors.Sendusfeedback. SeeMore FirstKnownUseofcommon Adjective 13thcentury,inthemeaningdefinedatsense1aNoun 14thcentury,inthemeaningdefinedatsense1 HistoryandEtymologyforcommon AdjectiveandNoun MiddleEnglishcommun,fromAnglo-French,fromLatincommunis—moreatmean LearnMoreAboutcommon Sharecommon PosttheDefinitionofcommontoFacebook SharetheDefinitionofcommononTwitter TimeTravelerforcommon Thefirstknownuseofcommonwas inthe13thcentury Seemorewordsfromthesamecentury DictionaryEntriesNearcommon Commodus common commonable SeeMoreNearbyEntries  PhrasesRelatedtocommon bycommonconsent commonconsent commoncourtesy Statisticsforcommon LastUpdated 2Dec2021 Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Common.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/common.Accessed2Dec.2021. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MoreDefinitionsforcommon common adjective com·​mon |\ˈkä-mən \ KidsDefinitionofcommon (Entry1of2) 1 :affecting,belongingto,neededby,orusedbyeverybody forthecommongoodacommonroom 2 :sharedbytwoormoreindividualsorbythemembersofafamilyorgroup acommonancestor 3 :generalentry1sense1 commonknowledge 4 :occurring,appearing,orusedfrequently acommonsightacommonname 5 :notabovetheaverageinrankorstatus acommonsoldier 6 :notprivilegedorelite "…thecommonfolks…liveanddieunnoticed."—L.FrankBaum,TheMarvelousLandofOz 7 :expectedfrompoliteanddecentpeople commoncourtesy incommon :sharedtogether Wehavealotincommon. common noun KidsDefinitionofcommon (Entry2of2) :land(asapark)ownedandusedbyacommunity ChoosetheRightSynonymforcommon Adjective common,ordinary,andfamiliarmeanoccurringoften.commonisusedforsomethingthatisoftheeverydaysortandfrequentlyoccurs. Fishingboatsareacommonsightaroundhere. ordinaryisusedwhensomethingisoftheusualstandard. Ihadanordinaryday. familiarisusedofsomethingthatiswell-knownandeasilyrecognized. Thatsongisfamiliar. common adjective com·​mon |\ˈkäm-ən \ Medical Definitionofcommon :formedofordividingintotwoormorebranches thecommonfacialveincommoniliacvessels common adjective com·​mon Legal Definitionofcommon (Entry1of2) 1a :oforrelatingtoacommunityatlarge:public commondefense b :knowntothecommunity acommonthief 2 :belongingtoorsharedbytwoormorepersonsorthingsorbyallmembersofagroup whentheinsuredandthebeneficiaryperishinacommondisastercommonareasofthebuilding 3 :oforrelatingtocommonstock commonshares common noun Legal Definitionofcommon (Entry2of2) 1 pluralcapitalized :houseofcommons 2 :thelegalrightoftakingaprofitinanother'slandincommonwiththeownerorothers thecommonofestoversthecommonofpasture 3 :apieceoflandsubjecttocommonuse:as a :landjointlyownedandusedespeciallyforpasture b :apublicopenareainamunicipality 4 :aconditionofsharedownership:aconditioninwhicharightissharedwithaninterestheldbyanotherperson heldtheestateincommon —seealsotenancyincommonattenancy—compareseveraltysense1 5 :commonstockatstock MorefromMerriam-Websteroncommon Nglish:TranslationofcommonforSpanishSpeakers BritannicaEnglish:TranslationofcommonforArabicSpeakers Britannica.com:Encyclopediaarticleaboutcommon WORDOFTHEDAY smarmy SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! 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