What does "common" mean?
Mutual good, shared by more than one.
Common
/ˈkɒm.ən/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Mutual good, shared by more than one.
- Grammar: common is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: commons, normal, absolute interest, abundant.
- Useful contrasts: abnormal, atypical, endangered.
- Usage evidence: They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals.
How to use "common"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "common" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "common" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "common" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "common" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "common" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "commons" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "common", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Mutual good, shared by more than one.
- 2 a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area wordnet
- 3 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 original common."
- 4 The people; the community.
"the weal o' the common"
- 5 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
- 1 To communicate (something). obsolete
"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."
- 2 To converse, talk. obsolete
"So long as Guyon with her commoned, / Vnto the ground she cast her modest eye […]"
- 3 To have sex. obsolete
- 4 To participate. obsolete
- 5 To have a joint right with others in common ground. obsolete
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To board together; to eat at a table in common. obsolete
Adjective
- 1 Mutual; shared by more than one.
"The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship."
- 2 Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.
"common knowledge, common decency, common sense"
- 3 Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.
"It is common to find sharks off this coast."
- 4 Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.
""Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common."
- 5 Simple, ordinary or vulgar.
"the common folk"
Show 7 more definitions
- 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."
- 8 Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.
"common law"
- 9 Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.
- 10 Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.
- 11 Profane; polluted. obsolete
"What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."
- 12 Given to lewd habits; prostitute. obsolete
"a Dame who her self was as Common as the King's High Way"
Adjective
- 1 having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual wordnet
- 2 belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public wordnet
- 3 commonly encountered wordnet
- 4 being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language wordnet
- 5 of or associated with the great masses of people wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 to be expected; standard wordnet
- 7 lacking refinement or cultivation or taste wordnet
- 8 common to or shared by two or more parties wordnet
- 9 of low or inferior quality or value wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Denoting the name of a universal language in various works.
"Both princesses spoke Common well enough. Soon we realized that they knew each other."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "common"?
Common synonyms include: commons, normal, absolute interest, abundant, accepted, accustomed.
How do you use "common" in a sentence?
They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals.
How do you pronounce "common"?
Pronounced /ˈkɒm.ən/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Probably a variant of Cumming or a reduced form of McCommon.