| English Dictionary |
COMMON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does common mean?
• COMMON (noun)
The noun COMMON has 1 sense:
1. a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area
Familiarity information: COMMON used as a noun is very rare.
• COMMON (adjective)
The adjective COMMON has 9 senses:
1. belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
2. having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual
3. common to or shared by two or more parties
4. commonly encountered
5. being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language
6. of or associated with the great masses of people
7. of low or inferior quality or value
8. lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
9. to be expected; standard
Familiarity information: COMMON used as an adjective is familiar.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
Context example:
they went for a walk in the park
Hypernyms ("common" is a kind of...):
parcel; parcel of land; piece of ground; piece of land; tract (an extended area of land)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "common"):
amusement park; funfair; pleasure ground (a commercially operated park with stalls and shows for amusement)
village green (a village park consisting of a plot of grassy land)
Instance hyponyms:
Central Park (a large park in Manhattan)
Holonyms ("common" is a part of...):
populated area; urban area (a geographical area constituting a city or town)
Derivation:
common (belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: commonest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
Context example:
common lands are set aside for use by all members of a community
Similar:
communal (for or by a group rather than individuals)
public (affecting the people or community as a whole)
Also:
joint (united or combined)
Attribute:
commonality; commonness (sharing of common attributes)
Antonym:
individual (being or characteristic of a single thing or person)
Derivation:
common (a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area)
commonality; commonness (sharing of common attributes)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual
Context example:
a common brand of soap
Similar:
average; ordinary (lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered)
democratic; popular (representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large)
demotic (of or for the common people)
frequent (frequently encountered)
general (prevailing among and common to the general public)
grassroots (of or involving the common people as constituting a fundamental political and economic group)
standard (commonly used or supplied)
Also:
usual (occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure)
ordinary (not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree)
Attribute:
commonness; commonplaceness; everydayness (ordinariness as a consequence of being frequent and commonplace)
Antonym:
uncommon (not common or ordinarily encountered; unusually great in amount or remarkable in character or kind)
Derivation:
commonality (sharing of common attributes)
commonness (ordinariness as a consequence of being frequent and commonplace)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Common to or shared by two or more parties
Synonyms:
common; mutual
Context example:
the mutual interests of management and labor
Similar:
shared (have in common; held or experienced in common)
Derivation:
commonality; commonness (sharing of common attributes)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Commonly encountered
Synonyms:
common; usual
Context example:
the usual greeting
Similar:
familiar (within normal everyday experience; common and ordinary; not strange)
Derivation:
commonality (sharing of common attributes)
commonness (the state of being that is commonly observed)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language
Synonyms:
common; vernacular; vulgar
Context example:
the technical and vulgar names for an animal species
Similar:
informal (used of spoken and written language)
Derivation:
commonness (ordinariness as a consequence of being frequent and commonplace)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Of or associated with the great masses of people
Synonyms:
common; plebeian; unwashed; vulgar
Context example:
the unwashed masses
Similar:
lowborn (of humble birth or origins)
Derivation:
commonality (a class composed of persons lacking clerical or noble rank)
commonness (sharing of common attributes)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Of low or inferior quality or value
Synonyms:
coarse; common
Context example:
produced...the common cloths used by the poorer population
Similar:
inferior (of low or inferior quality)
Derivation:
commonness (the quality of lacking taste and refinement)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
Synonyms:
coarse; common; rough-cut; uncouth; vulgar
Context example:
the vulgar display of the newly rich
Similar:
unrefined ((used of persons and their behavior) not refined; uncouth)
Derivation:
commonality (a class composed of persons lacking clerical or noble rank)
commonness (the quality of lacking taste and refinement)
Sense 9
Meaning:
To be expected; standard
Context example:
common decency
Similar:
ordinary (not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree)
Derivation:
commonality (sharing of common attributes)
commonness (the state of being that is commonly observed)
Context examples
How can you go on as if it was all settled and arranged, Peggotty, when I tell you over and over again, you cruel thing, that beyond the commonest civilities nothing has passed!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
That he allowed the master these liberties was no reason that he should be a common dog, loving here and loving there, everybody's property for a romp and good time.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The most common variant of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.
(Acute Adult T-Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)
A. actinomycetemcomitans is typically found as part of the oral flora and is a common cause of periodontitis.
(Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, NCI Thesaurus)
The most common site of involvement is the anterior chest wall.
(Acquired Hyperostosis Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
It is most common in people with fair skin.
(Actinic (Solar) Keratosis, NCI Dictionary)
Being brought up where wine is as common as water and almost as harmless, I don't care for it, but when a pretty girl offers it, one doesn't like to refuse, you see.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults.
(Acute Myeloid Leukemia, NIH: National Cancer Institute)
ALL is the most common type of cancer in children.
(Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, NIH: National Cancer Institute)
Severe anemia is a common symptom.
(Acute Erythroid Leukemia, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)
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"The work of the youth is a blanket for the old." (Albanian proverb)
"If two thieves quarreled, what was stolen emerges." (Arabic proverb)
"One bird in your hand is better than ten on the roof." (Danish proverb)