common

adj

Etymology: From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ȝemǣne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, mǣne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English samen, somen (“in common, together”) (from Old English samen (“together”)). Doublet of gmina and mean.

1. Mutual; shared by more than one.

   “The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.”

   “Winning the championship is an aim common to the two competitors.”

2. Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.

   “common knowledge, common decency, common sense”

   “No man of common humanity, no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it.”

3. Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

   “It is common to find sharks off this coast.”

   “Thus it is sayde in the cōmon vsage.”

4. Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.

   “"Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common.”

   “Sharks are common in these waters.”

5. Simple, ordinary or vulgar.

   “the common folk”

   “This fact was infamous / And ill beseeming any common man, / Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.”

6. As part of the vernacular name of a species, usually denoting that it is abundant or widely known.

   “the common daisy (Bellis perennis)”

7. Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal.

   “common name vs. scientific name.”

8. Arising from use or tradition, as opposed to being created by a legislative body.

   “common law”

   “As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]”

9. Of, pertaining or belonging to the common gender.
10. Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.
11. Profane; polluted.

    “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”

12. Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

    “a Dame who her self was as Common as the King's High Way”

name

1. Denoting the name of a universal language in various works.

   “Both princesses spoke Common well enough. Soon we realized that they knew each other.”

noun

Etymology: From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ȝemǣne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, mǣne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English samen, somen (“in common, together”) (from Old English samen (“together”)). Doublet of gmina and mean.

1. Mutual good, shared by more than one.
2. A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

   “The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.”

   “Throughout the land there is a great variation in the shape and size of village greens, from the many of pocket-handkerchief size to a roadside common of 20 acres or more - as at Lindfield in West Sussex.”

3. The people; the community.

   “the weal o' the common”

4. 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.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ȝemǣne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, mǣne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English samen, somen (“in common, together”) (from Old English samen (“together”)). Doublet of gmina and mean.

1. To communicate (something).

   “Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was iscariot (which was of the nombre off the twelve) and he went his waye, and commened with the hye prestes and officers, how he wolde betraye hym vnto them.”

2. To converse, talk.

   “So long as Guyon with her commoned, / Vnto the ground she cast her modest eye […]”

   “1568-1569, Richard Grafton, Chronicle Capitaine generall of Flaunders, which amiably enterteyned the sayd Duke, and after they had secretly commoned of.”

3. To have sex.
4. To participate.
5. To have a joint right with others in common ground.
6. To board together; to eat at a table in common.