common

play

adjective com·mon \ ˈkä-mən \

Definition of common

1 a :of or relating to a community at large :public

work for the common good

b :known to the community

common nuisances

2 a :belonging to or shared by two or more individuals or things or by all members of a group

a common friend

buried in a common grave

common interests

b :belonging equally to two or more mathematical entities

triangles with a common base

c :having two or more branches

common carotid artery

3 a :occurring or appearing frequently :familiar

a common sight

b :of the best known or most frequently seen kind —used especially of plants and animals

the common housefly

c :vernacular 2

common names

4 a :widespread, general

common knowledge

b :characterized by a lack of privilege or special status

common people

a common laborer

c :just satisfying accustomed criteria :elementary

common decency

5 a :falling below ordinary standards :second-rate

Oh hard is the bed they have made him, / And common the blanket and cheap …
—A. E. Housman

b :lacking refinement :coarse

said, in his common vulgar way, the city would have to lump it
—J. K. Jerome

6 :denoting nominal relations by a single linguistic form that in a more highly inflected language might be denoted by two or more different forms

common gender

common case

7 :of, relating to, or being common stock

—

commonly

adverb

—

commonness

play \ˈkä-mən-nəs\ noun

See common defined for English-language learners

See common defined for kids

Examples of common in a Sentence

They have a common ancestor.
The people on the island have a sense of common identity.
It is common practice for one town's fire department to help another town when there is a big fire.
Electric windows are a common feature in new cars.
“Smith” is a common name.
I think some of the most common flowers are also some of the prettiest.
cures for the common cold

Origin and Etymology of common

Middle English commun, from Anglo-French, from Latin communis — more at mean

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

common Synonyms

Synonyms

common or garden [chiefly British], commonplace, everyday, familiar, frequent, garden-variety, household, ordinary, quotidian, routine, ubiquitous, usual, a dime a dozen

Antonyms

extraordinary, infrequent, rare, seldom, uncommon, unfamiliar, unusual

Related Words

normal, regular, standard; de rigueur, mandatory, obligatory; general, universal; ceaseless, constant, continual, continuous, incessant, unceasing; endemic, popular, prevailing, prevalent, rampant; perennial, recurrent, repeated

Near Antonyms

aberrant, abnormal, irregular, unnatural; intermittent, occasional, sporadic

Synonym Discussion of common

common, ordinary, plain, familiar, popular, vulgar mean generally met with and not in any way special, strange, or unusual. common implies usual everyday quality or frequency of occurrence

- a common error
- lacked common honesty

and may additionally suggest inferiority or coarseness.

- common manners

ordinary stresses conformance in quality or kind with the regular order of things.

- an ordinary pleasant summer day
- a very ordinary sort of man

plain is likely to suggest homely simplicity.

- plain hard-working people

familiar stresses the fact of being generally known and easily recognized.

- a familiar melody

popular applies to what is accepted by or prevalent among people in general sometimes in contrast to upper classes or special groups.

- a writer of popular romances

vulgar, otherwise similar to popular, is likely to carry derogatory connotations (as of inferiority or coarseness).

- souvenirs designed to appeal to the vulgar taste

common

noun

Definition of common

1 commons plural :the common people

2 commons plural in form but singular in construction :a dining hall

Students usually have their meals at the commons.

3 commons or Commons plural in form but singular or plural in construction

a :the political group or estate comprising the commoners

b :the parliamentary representatives of the commoners

c :house of commons

4 :the legal right of taking a profit in another's land in common with the owner or others

5 :a piece of land subject to common use: such as

a :undivided land used especially for pasture

b :a public open area in a municipality

A food and jazz festival will be held at the town common.

6 a :a religious service suitable for any of various festivals

b :ordinary 2

7 :common stock

— in common

:shared together

has a lot in common with his neighbors

See common defined for English-language learners

Examples of common in a Sentence

The campus has several dining commons.

Recent Examples of common from the Web

But there's one thing all these all have in common: Buying them in brine will make a world of difference.

— julia black, Bon Appetit, "The One Thing to Know When Buying Feta Cheese," 29 Aug. 2017
At Glenwood, the project included removing a wall between the media center and the computer lab so the lab is now part of the learning commons.

— jane ford-stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Hammers pounded, concrete flowed as Greenfield performed major renovations for schools' start," 23 Aug. 2017
The question of what, if anything, these accidents have in common has become front-of-mind.

— Bloomberg.com, "Your Evening Briefing," 22 Aug. 2017
The building will have more private office space, a large commons area for studying and hanging out, and a new main entrance.

— andrea k. mcdaniels, baltimoresun.com, "Ravens give $1.5 million to renovate Renaissance Academy," 21 July 2017
What the many photographs, text panels and objects in this exhibit have in common is an emphasis on how the arts helped in the community-building efforts here.

— Columbia Flier, "Art played a part in building Columbia," 27 June 2017
Standing in the midst of 1,100 backpacks dotting North Central College's grassy commons Friday, Linda Pacha held out a white flier with information on mental health resources and urged every student who passed her to visit nicksnetworkofhope.org.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "Backpack exhibit puts names, faces to college suicide dilemma," 13 May 2017
In that situation exists a true commons where one person’s use means less left for the rest.

— gail cornwall, The Atlantic, "How Central Park Could Fix Public Education," 4 May 2017
Finlay and McLellan have much in common based on their size and early struggles adapting to college hockey.

— mike chambers, The Denver Post, "Heading into Frozen Four, top-ranked DU hockey’s seniors take a back seat," 1 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'common.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of common

see ¹common

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

COMMON Defined for English Language Learners

common

play

adjective

Definition of common for English Language Learners

: belonging to or shared by two or more people or groups
: done by many people
: occurring or appearing frequently : not rare

common

noun

Definition of common for English Language Learners

: a public area or park usually in the center of a town or city
commons : a place where meals are served at a school, college, etc.

COMMON Defined for Kids

common

play

adjective com·mon \ ˈkä-mən \

Definition of common for Students

1 :affecting, belonging to, needed by, or used by everybody

for the common good

a common room

2 :shared by two or more individuals or by the members of a family or group

a common ancestor

3 :¹general 1

common knowledge

4 :occurring, appearing, or used frequently

a common sight

a common name

5 :not above the average in rank or status

a common soldier

6 :not privileged or elite

“… the common folks … live and die unnoticed.”
—L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz

7 :expected from polite and decent people

common courtesy

— in common

:shared together

We have a lot in common.

Synonym Discussion of common

common, ordinary, and familiar mean occurring often. common is used for something that is of the everyday sort and frequently occurs.

- Fishing boats are a common sight around here.

ordinary is used when something is of the usual standard.

- I had an ordinary day.

familiar is used of something that is well-known and easily recognized.

- That song is familiar.

common

noun

Definition of common for Students

:land (as a park) owned and used by a community

Medical Dictionary

common

play

adjective com·mon \ ˈkäm-ən \

medical Definition of common

:formed of or dividing into two or more branches

the common facial vein

common iliac vessels

Law Dictionary

common

adjective com·mon

legal Definition of common

1 a :of or relating to a community at large :public

common defense

b :known to the community

a common thief

2 :belonging to or shared by two or more persons or things or by all members of a group

when the insured and the beneficiary perish in a common disaster

common areas of the building

3 :of or relating to common stock

common shares

common

noun

legal Definition of common

1 plural capitalized :house of commons

2 :the legal right of taking a profit in another's land in common with the owner or others

the common of estovers

the common of pasture

3 :a piece of land subject to common use: as

a :land jointly owned and used especially for pasture

b :a public open area in a municipality

4 :a condition of shared ownership :a condition in which a right is shared with an interest held by another person

held the estate in common

— see also tenancy in common at tenancy — compare severalty 1

5 :common stock at stock

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common

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