commune

1 of 2

verb

com·​mune kə-ˈmyün How to pronounce commune (audio)
communed; communing

transitive verb

obsolete : talk over, discuss
have more to communeWilliam Shakespeare

intransitive verb

1
: to receive Communion
The people who had communed returned to their pews using the side aisles.
2
: to communicate intimately
commune with nature
… he stands communing with his soul on a bridge …Richard Alleva

commune

2 of 2

noun

com·​mune ˈkäm-ˌyün How to pronounce commune (audio)
kə-ˈmyün,
kä-
1
: the smallest administrative district of many countries especially in Europe
2
3
: community: such as
a
: a medieval usually municipal corporation
b(1)
: mir
(2)
: an often rural community organized on a communal basis

Examples of commune in a Sentence

Verb a psychic who communes with the dead after a week in the wilderness, the scouts were really starting to commune with nature Noun He's living in a religious commune.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
For Thurston, communing with nature in this way was cleansing. Tonya Abari, Parents, 9 Mar. 2024 While filming The Outrun, Saoirse Ronan delivered lambs, swam with seals and communed with her fair share of flora and fauna. Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024 An hour and a half drive from Phoenix and Flagstaff, Prescott, Arizona, offers Old West vibes within the breathtaking surroundings of Prescott National Forest, a top destination for mountain biking, hiking, bouldering and communing with nature. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 25 Jan. 2024 Agnostic but empathetic, Wilson’s film suggests communing with the dead may just be a roundabout way of reaching the living. Guy Lodge, Variety, 25 Jan. 2024 In caves adorned with rock art, archaeologists have found pestles, a vomiting spatula and a hollow bird bone snuff tube—paraphernalia associated with attempts to commune with the spirit world. Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Jan. 2024 Amid the interpersonal conflict of this family, the narrative reveals itself as an unassumingly fantastical statement on humanity’s relationship with nature that urges us to commune with other living beings rather than only exploiting them. Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2023 That accuracy has garnered the company a loyal following of fanboys who commune online in social media groups buying, pricing, trading and critiquing all things McFarlane. David Betancourt, Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2023 The flute, he’s explained, is a way to commune with the air around him, to experience the sensation of breath, as well as a coping mechanism for social anxiety. Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2023
Noun
According to the Los Angeles Times, Peter was shuttled between his mom's movie sets and his dad's commune during his childhood. Alexandra Hurtado, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024 Zong, who never attended high school, was forced to live on a farming commune in 1964 during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. Bloomberg, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024 The communes were a central part of Mao’s Great Leap Forward campaign, a disastrous effort to galvanize agriculture and raise steel production through collectivization that resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people. Laura He, CNN, 20 Feb. 2024 Lukas Moodysson picked up the best screenplay prize for his script to Together 99, a sequel to his 2000 crossover hit Together about life in a Swedish commune. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Jan. 2024 Her new friends in New England connected her with the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, a utopian commune in Massachusetts based on the equality of all races, genders and religions. Cynthia Greenlee, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Feb. 2024 Marx learned about mirs, agricultural communes in Russia, and believed that they could be developed into socialism, without passing through capitalism. E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2024 There’s another script called Albion that’s about a commune in the Northeastern United States in the 1920s. Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 22 Jan. 2024 As good as Hollander is, the structure periodically staggers under an eight-part narrative that dizzyingly flits around in time and indulges in flights of fancy like having Capote commune with his dead mother (Jessica Lange, by now a mainstay of Murphy’s repertory company). Brian Lowry, CNN, 31 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'commune.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, to share, receive Communion, from Anglo-French communer, cummunier, from Late Latin communicare, from Latin — see communicate

Noun

French, alteration of Middle French comugne, from Medieval Latin communia, from Latin, neuter plural of communis

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

1673, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of commune was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near commune

Cite this Entry

“Commune.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commune. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

commune

1 of 2 verb
com·​mune kə-ˈmyün How to pronounce commune (audio)
communed; communing
1
: to receive Communion
2
: to be in close communication with someone or something
commune with nature

commune

2 of 2 noun
com·​mune ˈkäm-ˌyün How to pronounce commune (audio)
kə-ˈmyün
1
: the smallest administrative district of many countries especially in Europe
2
: a small group of people that live together and share property and duties

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