ˈkɔmən adj. & 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. øcommon
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. øøcommonly adv. commonness n. [ME f. OF comun f. L communis]