commonplace book

noun

: a book of memorabilia

Examples of commonplace book in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Garner, whose book reviews are a highlight of the Times culture pages, serves up a commonplace book composed of literary quotations, advice for living, recipes, and a heaping side order of memoir. Condé Nast, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023 After his wife left him in 1642, John Milton processed it in his commonplace book, chronicling a reading binge about bad marriages. New York Times, 22 Mar. 2022 Sometime around 1535, Sir Thomas Wyatt, a poet and ambassador in the court of King Henry VIII, had a scribe copy into his personal commonplace book a poem that Wyatt had composed. Dan Chiasson, The New York Review of Books, 13 Feb. 2020

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

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of commonplace book was in 1572

Dictionary Entries Near commonplace book

Cite this Entry

“Commonplace book.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commonplace%20book. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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