commonality

noun

com·​mon·​al·​i·​ty ˌkä-mə-ˈna-lə-tē 

plural commonalities

1

: the common people

2

a

: possession of common features or attributes : commonness

b

: a common feature or attribute

Synonyms of commonality

• similarity
• resemblance

Examples of commonality in a Sentence

The plans share important commonalities.

one commonality between the two very different women is their passion for charity work

Recent Examples on the Web

To me, the best friends to hang out with are those that, despite our commonality, are opposites of me in some ways as well. —Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026

Still, there’s broad commonality in the cases of the elder Bush in Panama, Clinton in Kosovo, Obama in Libya and even the younger Bush in Iraq with his congressional approval. —John Brummett, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026

Humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles, smartphones, smart home devices, and even something as mundane as a TV remote or a coffee machine all share a quiet commonality. —Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 4 Jan. 2026

Then again, the most important commonality between the two outsider mayors might be simply that for Mamdani, as for Bloomberg on his first day, no one knows how this will go. —Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 1 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English communalite commonwealth, alteration of communalte

First Known Use

1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for commonality

• abnormality
• cardinality
• communality
• cordiality
• corporeality
• criminality
• criticality
• functionality
• generality
• geniality
• hospitality
• illegality