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Wordswarms From Years PastAdjacent WordscommoditizeCommodity commodity brokerage commodity exchange commodity loading commodity manager Commodore Commodore John Barry Bridge Commodore Perry Commodore Vanderbilt Commodulation Commodus Commoigne common ageratum common alder common allamanda common American shad common amsinckia Common appendant Common appurtenant common apricot common arrowhead Common at large common ax common axe common bamboo common bar Full-text Search for "Common" 11205 |
Common definitions
Webster's 1828 DictionaryCOMMON, a. WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)adj Merriam Webster's
Oxford Reference Dictionaryadj. & n. --adj. (commoner, commonest) 1 a occurring often (a common mistake). b ordinary; of ordinary qualities; without special rank or position (no common mind; common soldier; the common people). 2 a shared by, coming from, or done by, more than one (common knowledge; by common consent; our common benefit). b belonging to, open to, or affecting, the whole community or the public (common land). 3 derog. low-class; vulgar; inferior (a common little man). 4 of the most familiar type (common cold; common nightshade). 5 Math. belonging to two or more quantities (common denominator; common factor). 6 Gram. (of gender) referring to individuals of either sex (e.g. teacher). 7 Prosody (of a syllable) that may be either short or long. 8 Mus. having two or four beats, esp. four crotchets, in a bar. 9 Law (of a crime) of lesser importance (cf. GRAND, PETTY). --n. 1 a piece of open public land, esp. in a village or town. 2 sl. = common sense; (use your common). 3 Eccl. a service used for each of a group of occasions. 4 (in full right of common) Law a person's right over another's land, e.g. for pasturage. Phrases and idioms: common carrier a person or firm undertaking to transport any goods or person in a specified category. common chord Mus. any note with its major or minor third and perfect fifth. common crier see CRIER. common denominator see DENOMINATOR. Common Era the Christian era. common ground a point or argument accepted by both sides in a dispute. common jury a jury with members of no particular social standing (cf. special jury). common law law derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than statutes (cf. case-law (see CASE(1)), statute law). common-law husband (or wife) a partner in a marriage recognized by common law, esp. after a period of cohabitation. Common Market the European Economic Community. common metre a hymn stanza of four lines with 8, 6, 8, and 6 syllables. common noun (or name) Gram. a name denoting a class of objects or a concept as opposed to a particular individual (e.g. boy, chocolate, beauty). common or garden colloq. ordinary. Common Prayer the Church of England liturgy orig. set forth in the Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI (1549). common-room 1 a room in some colleges, schools, etc., which members may use for relaxation or work. 2 the members who use this. common salt see SALT. common seal the official seal of a corporate body. common sense sound practical sense, esp. in everyday matters. Common Serjeant see SERJEANT. common soldier see SOLDIER. common stock US = ordinary shares. common weal public welfare. common year see YEAR 2. in common 1 in joint use; shared. 2 of joint interest (have little in common). in common with in the same way as. least (or lowest) common denominator, multiple see DENOMINATOR, MULTIPLE. out of the common unusual. Derivatives: commonly adv. commonness n. Etymology: ME f. OF comun f. L communis Webster's 1913 DictionaryCommon Com"mon, a. [Compar. Commoner; superl. Commonest.] [OE. commun, comon, OF. comun, F. commun, fr. L. communis; com- + munis ready to be of service; cf. Skr. mi to make fast, set up, build, Goth. gamains common, G. gemein, and E. mean low, common. Cf. Immunity, Commune, n. & v.] 1. Belonging or relating equally, or similarly, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property. Though life and sense be common to men and brutes. --Sir M. Hale. 2. Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, considered together; general; public; as, properties common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer. Such actions as the common good requireth. --Hooker. The common enemy of man. --Shak. 3. Often met with; usual; frequent; customary. Grief more than common grief. --Shak. 4. Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense. The honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life. --W. Irving. This fact was infamous And ill beseeming any common man, Much more a knight, a captain and a leader. --Shak. Above the vulgar flight of common souls. --A. Murphy. 5. Profane; polluted. [Obs.] What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. --Acts x. 15. 6. Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute. A dame who herself was common. --L'Estrange. Common bar (Law) Same as Blank bar, under Blank. Common barrator (Law), one who makes a business of instigating litigation. Common Bench, a name sometimes given to the English Court of Common Pleas. Common brawler (Law), one addicted to public brawling and quarreling. See Brawler. Common carrier (Law), one who undertakes the office of carrying (goods or persons) for hire. Such a carrier is bound to carry in all cases when he has accommodation, and when his fixed price is tendered, and he is liable for all losses and injuries to the goods, except those which happen in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the country, or of the owner of the property himself. Common chord (Mus.), a chord consisting of the fundamental tone, with its third and fifth. Common council, the representative (legislative) body, or the lower branch of the representative body, of a city or other municipal corporation. Common crier, the crier of a town or city. Common divisor (Math.), a number or quantity that divides two or more numbers or quantities without a remainder; a common measure. Common gender (Gram.), the gender comprising words that may be of either the masculine or the feminine gender. Common law, a system of jurisprudence developing under the guidance of the courts so as to apply a consistent and reasonable rule to each litigated case. It may be superseded by statute, but unless superseded it controls. --Wharton. Note: It is by others defined as the unwritten law (especially of England), the law that receives its binding force from immemorial usage and universal reception, as ascertained and expressed in the judgments of the courts. This term is often used in contradistinction from statute law. Many use it to designate a law common to the whole country. It is also used to designate the whole body of English (or other) law, as distinguished from its subdivisions, local, civil, admiralty, equity, etc. See Law. Common lawyer, one versed in common law. Common lewdness (Law), the habitual performance of lewd acts in public. Common multiple (Arith.) See under Multiple. Common noun (Gram.), the name of any one of a class of objects, as distinguished from a proper noun (the name of a particular person or thing). Common nuisance (Law), that which is deleterious to the health or comfort or sense of decency of the community at large. Common pleas, one of the three superior courts of common law at Westminster, presided over by a chief justice and four puisne judges. Its jurisdiction is confined to civil matters. Courts bearing this title exist in several of the United States, having, however, in some cases, both civil and criminal jurisdiction extending over the whole State. In other States the jurisdiction of the common pleas is limited to a county, and it is sometimes called a county court. Its powers are generally defined by statute. Common prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England, or of the Protestant Episcopal church of the United States, which all its clergy are enjoined to use. It is contained in the Book of Common Prayer. Common school, a school maintained at the public expense, and open to all. Common scold (Law), a woman addicted to scolding indiscriminately, in public. Common seal, a seal adopted and used by a corporation. Common sense. (a) A supposed sense which was held to be the common bond of all the others. [Obs.] --Trench. (b) Sound judgment. See under Sense. Common time (Mus.), that variety of time in which the measure consists of two or of four equal portions. In common, equally with another, or with others; owned, shared, or used, in community with others; affecting or affected equally. Out of the common, uncommon; extraordinary. Tenant in common, one holding real or personal property in common with others, having distinct but undivided interests. See Joint tenant, under Joint. To make common cause with, to join or ally one's self with. Syn: General; public; popular; national; universal; frequent; ordinary; customary; usual; familiar; habitual; vulgar; mean; trite; stale; threadbare; commonplace. See Mutual, Ordinary, General. Webster's 1913 DictionaryCommon Com"mon, n. 1. The people; the community. [Obs.] ``The weal o' the common.'' --Shak. 2. An inclosed or uninclosed tract of ground for pleasure, for pasturage, etc., the use of which belongs to the public; or to a number of persons. 3. (Law) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; -- so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right. Common appendant, a right belonging to the owners or occupiers of arable land to put commonable beasts upon the waste land in the manor where they dwell. Common appurtenant, a similar right applying to lands in other manors, or extending to other beasts, besides those which are generally commonable, as hogs. Common because of vicinage or neighborhood, the right of the inhabitants of each of two townships, lying contiguous to each other, which have usually intercommoned with one another, to let their beasts stray into the other's fields. - Common in gross or at large, a common annexed to a man's person, being granted to him and his heirs by deed; or it may be claimed by prescriptive right, as by a parson of a church or other corporation sole. --Blackstone. Common of estovers, the right of taking wood from another's estate. Common of pasture, the right of feeding beasts on the land of another. --Burill. Common of piscary, the right of fishing in waters belonging to another. Common of turbary, the right of digging turf upon the ground of another. Webster's 1913 DictionaryCommon Com"mon, n. 1. The people; the community. [Obs.] ``The weal o' the common.'' --Shak. 2. An inclosed or uninclosed tract of ground for pleasure, for pasturage, etc., the use of which belongs to the public; or to a number of persons. 3. (Law) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; -- so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right. Common appendant, a right belonging to the owners or occupiers of arable land to put commonable beasts upon the waste land in the manor where they dwell. Common appurtenant, a similar right applying to lands in other manors, or extending to other beasts, besides those which are generally commonable, as hogs. Common because of vicinage or neighborhood, the right of the inhabitants of each of two townships, lying contiguous to each other, which have usually intercommoned with one another, to let their beasts stray into the other's fields. - Common in gross or at large, a common annexed to a man's person, being granted to him and his heirs by deed; or it may be claimed by prescriptive right, as by a parson of a church or other corporation sole. --Blackstone. Common of estovers, the right of taking wood from another's estate. Common of pasture, the right of feeding beasts on the land of another. --Burill. Common of piscary, the right of fishing in waters belonging to another. Common of turbary, the right of digging turf upon the ground of another. Webster's 1913 DictionaryCommon Com"mon, v. i. 1. To converse together; to discourse; to confer. [Obs.] Embassadors were sent upon both parts, and divers means of entreaty were commoned of. --Grafton. 2. To participate. [Obs.] --Sir T. More. 3. To have a joint right with others in common ground. --Johnson. 4. To board together; to eat at a table in common. Collin's Cobuild Dictionary(commoner, commonest, commons) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If something is common, it is found in large numbers or it happens often. His name was Hansen, a common name in Norway... Oil pollution is the commonest cause of death for seabirds... It was common practice for prisoners to carve objects from animal bones to pass the time. ? uncommon, rare ADJ • commonly Parsley is probably the most commonly used of all herbs. ADV: ADV with v 2. If something is common to two or more people or groups, it is done, possessed, or used by them all. Moldavians and Romanians share a common language... Such behaviour is common to all young people. ADJ: oft ADJ to n 3. When there are more animals or plants of a particular species than there are of related species, then the first species is called common. ...the common house fly. ADJ: ADJ n 4. Common is used to indicate that someone or something is of the ordinary kind and not special in any way. Common salt is made up of 40% sodium and 60% chloride. ADJ: ADJ n 5. Common decency or common courtesy is the decency or courtesy which most people have. You usually talk about this when someone has not shown these characteristics in their behaviour to show your disapproval of them. He didn't have the common courtesy to ask permission. ADJ: oft with brd-neg, ADJ n [disapproval] 6. You can use common to describe knowledge, an opinion, or a feeling that is shared by people in general. It is common knowledge that swimming is one of the best forms of exercise. ADJ: ADJ n • commonly A little adolescent rebellion is commonly believed to be healthy. ADV: ADV -ed 7. If you describe someone or their behaviour as common, you mean that they show a lack of taste, education, and good manners. She might be a little common at times, but she was certainly not boring. ? refined ADJ [disapproval] 8. A common is an area of grassy land, usually in or near a village or small town, where the public is allowed to go. We are warning women not to go out on to the common alone. ...Wimbledon Common. N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES 9. The Commons is the same as the House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons can also be referred to as the Commons. The Prime Minister is to make a statement in the Commons this afternoon... The Commons has spent over three months on the bill. N-PROPER-COLL 10. see also lowest common denominator 11. If two or more things have something in common, they have the same characteristic or feature. The oboe and the clarinet have got certain features in common... In common with most Italian lakes, access to the shores of Orta is restricted. PHRASE: oft PHR with n 12. If two or more people have something in common, they share the same interests or experiences. He had very little in common with his sister. PHRASE: usu have n PHR, oft PHR with n 13. common ground: see ground the common touch: see touch International Standard Bible Encyclopediakom'-un: koinos, in the classics, and primarily in the New Testament, means what is public, general, universal, as contrasted with idios, what is peculiar, individual, not shared with others. Thus, "common faith" (Tit 1:4), "common salvation" (Jude 1:3), refer to that in which the experience of all Christians unites and is identical: "common," because there is but one faith and one salvation (Eph 4:4-6). From this comes the derived meaning of what is ordinary and, therefore, to be disesteemed, as contrasted with what pertains to a class, and to be prized, because rare. This naturally coincides with Old Testament exclusivism, particularity and separation. Its religion was that of a separated people, with a separated class as its ministers, and with minute directions as to distinctions of meat, drink, times, places, rites, vessels, etc. Whatever was common or ordinary, it avoided. The New Testament, on the other hand, with its universalism of scope, and its spirituality of sphere, rose above all such externals. The salvation which it brought was directed to the redemption of Nature, as well as of man, sanctifying the creature, and pervading all parts of man's being and all relations of life. The antithesis is forcibly illustrated in Ac 10:14 f, where Peter says: "I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean," and the reply is: "What God hath cleansed, make not thou common." Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms
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