commonwealth

noun com·mon·wealth \ ˈkä-mən-ˌwelth also -ˌweltth \

|Updated on: 14 Aug 2018

Examples: commonwealth in a Sentence

Definition of commonwealth

1 archaic : commonweal 2

2 : a nation, state, or other political unit: such as

a : one founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement of the people for the common good

b : one in which supreme authority is vested in the people

c : republic

3 capitalized

a : the English state from the death of Charles I in 1649 to the Restoration in 1660

b : protectorate 1b

4 : a state of the U.S. —used officially of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia

5 capitalized : a federal union of constituent states —used officially of Australia

6 often capitalized : an association of self-governing autonomous states more or less loosely associated in a common allegiance (as to the British crown)

7 often capitalized : a political unit having local autonomy but voluntarily united with the U.S. —used officially of Puerto Rico and of the Northern Mariana Islands

See commonwealth defined for English-language learners

See commonwealth defined for kids

Examples of commonwealth in a Sentence

laws that will benefit all the citizens of the commonwealth

Recent Examples of commonwealth from the Web

Her shirt featured the Puerto Rican flag, which was outlawed in the commonwealth before it was officially adopted in 1952.

— morgan greene, chicagotribune.com, "After viral video, a refresher course: 5 things to know about Puerto Rico," 10 July 2018
A few of our favorites: Karlie Kloss, Joan Smalls (who hails from the commonwealth of Puerto Rico), and best friends–turned–social media supernovas Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid.

— catherine piercy, Vogue, "American Beauty! 33 Legendary Models Made in the USA," 4 July 2018
But what that will mean for the commonwealth moving forward is another question.

— tom loftus, The Courier-Journal, "Gov. Matt Bevin says he's open to hearing sports betting law proposals," 15 May 2018
Leticia Jover, a spokeswoman for commonwealth Housing Secretary Fernando Gil, declined to comment on AECOM’s allegations, citing the possibility that the case could lead to legal action.

— Bloomberg.com, "Rival Company Says Puerto Rico Deal to Rebuild Homes Was Unfairly Awarded," 12 Jan. 2018
The commonwealth is aiming to do something about that, announcing $2 million in grants toward developing and implementing educator residency programs at various in-state colleges.

— oona goodin-smith, Philly.com, "Families of Cosmo DiNardo murder victims speak out, Pa. to pay $2M to fight teacher shortage | Morning Newsletter," 13 July 2018
Voters also nominated Corey Stewart, a Prince William County supervisor and commonwealth carbon of Trump — best known as a defender of Confederate symbolism — to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in November.

— mark z. barabak, latimes.com, "Trump puts stranglehold on GOP — and woe to any Republican who objects," 13 June 2018
The commonwealth is considering offloading some 3,200 prisoners, apparently to privately run lockups across the water, according to the latest fiscal turnaround plan.

— jonathan levin, Bloomberg.com, "Puerto Rico to Offload Inmates to U.S. From ‘Archaic’ Prisons," 13 Apr. 2018
Even before the hurricanes of 2017, the number of Puerto Ricans living in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties had climbed to more than 332,000, which is about a tenth of the population of the commonwealth island in the Caribbean.

— mary shanklin, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Puerto Rican population growth reshapes Central Florida," 7 Dec. 2017

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

First Known Use of commonwealth

15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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commonwealth Synonyms

Synonyms

country, land, nation, sovereignty (also sovranty), state;

Related Words

city-state, ministate, nation-state;

domain, dominion, empire, kingdom, realm, republic;

democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, monocracy, oligarchy, sovereign (also sovran), theocracy;

fatherland, homeland, motherland;

great power, power, sea power, superpower, world power;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

COMMONWEALTH Defined for English Language Learners

commonwealth

noun

Definition of commonwealth for English Language Learners

: a group of countries or states that have political or economic connections with one another
the Commonwealth : a U.S. state
: a political unit that is like a U.S. state but that pays no federal taxes and has only a representative in Congress who does not vote

COMMONWEALTH Defined for Kids

commonwealth

noun com·mon·wealth \ ˈkä-mən-ˌwelth \

Definition of commonwealth for Students

1 : a political unit (as a nation or state)

2 : one of four states of the United States—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, or Virginia

Law Dictionary

commonwealth

noun com·mon·wealth \ ˈkä-mən-ˌwelth \

legal Definition of commonwealth

1 : a nation, state, or other political unit: as

a : one founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement by the people for the common good

b : one in which supreme authority is vested in the people

c : republic

2 : a state of the U.S. —used officially of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia

3 often capitalized : an association of self-governing autonomous states more or less loosely associated in a common allegiance (as to the British crown)

4 often capitalized : a political unit having local autonomy but voluntarily united with the U.S. —used officially of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands