common

ENEnglish
//ˈkɒm.ən//(Received Pronunciation)

Direct German Translations & Equivalents:

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Verb Conjugation Tables & Inflections

Key Verb Forms & Inflections
Third-person singular (he/she/it):commons
Present Participle (-ing):commoning
Past Participle:commoned
Simple Past:commoned

Definitions & Usage

adjective
#1

Mutual; shared by more than one.

Example: The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.
Example: Winning the championship is an aim common to the two competitors.
adjective
#2

Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.

Example: common knowledge, common decency, common sense
adjective
#3

Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

Example: It is common to find sharks off this coast.
adjective
#4

Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.

Example: "Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common.
Example: Sharks are common in these waters.
adjective
#5

Simple, ordinary or vulgar.

Example: the common folk
adjective
#6

(taxonomy) As part of the vernacular name of a species, usually denoting that it is abundant or widely known.

Example: the common daisy (Bellis perennis)
adjective
#7

(taxonomy) Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal.

Example: common name vs. scientific name.
adjective
#8

(law) Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.

Example: common law
adjective
#9

(grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.

adjective
#10

(grammar) Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.

adjective
#11

(obsolete) Profane; polluted.

adjective
#12

(obsolete) Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

noun
#13

Mutual good, shared by more than one.

Translations:[DE]Gemeingut
noun
#14

A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

Synonyms:
Translations:[DE]Allmende
noun
#15

The people; the community.

noun
#16

(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.

verb
#17

(obsolete) To communicate (something).

verb
#18

(obsolete) To converse, talk.

Example: 1568-1569, Richard Grafton, Chronicle Capitaine generall of Flaunders, which amiably enterteyned the sayd Duke, and after they had secretly commoned of.
verb
#19

(obsolete) To have sex.

verb
#20

(obsolete) To participate.

verb
#21

(obsolete) To have a joint right with others in common ground.

verb
#22

(obsolete) To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Synonyms:

Notable Literary & Historical Quotes

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.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

They shared a common dread that he would begin moaning.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169:

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 T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 197:

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