DictionaryAI

common

KAH-muhn/ˈkɑ.mən/KO-muhn/ˈkɒm.ən/

20 meanings of common

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    Occurring often or found in large numbers; usual rather than rare.

    Power outages are common during hurricane season.

    Headaches are a common side effect of the new medication.

    UsageOften it is common to + verb, or common in a place, common among a group.

    Oppositerare, unusual, infrequent

    Note

    It covers both how often something happens and how many of a thing there are. Tennyson's In Memoriam (1850) turns it bitterly: "That loss is common would not make / My own less bitter."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  2. 2
    adjective
    Shared by or belonging to two or more people, groups, or things, or to everyone.

    The roommates split the cost of cleaning the common areas.

    The two rivals finally found common ground on trade policy.

    UsageUse common to to name who shares something: an aim common to both. Set phrases: common ground, have something in common.

    Similarshared, communal, joint, mutual, collective

    Oppositeprivate, individual, separate, personal

    Note

    In Joseph Heller's Catch-22, the soldiers share "a common dread," so a feeling can be shared too.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  3. 3
    ordinary (low-class)adjective
    Ordinary, plain, or undistinguished; often disparaging, suggesting vulgarity or a lack of refinement.

    The inn served common fare: bread, cheese, and thin soup.

    She thought dyed hair looked common and said so loudly.

    UsageCalling a person common is an insult. For food or goods, it can mean plain or ordinary, but may sound dismissive.

    Similarplain, ordinary, vulgar, simple, coarse

    Oppositerefined, elegant, sophisticated, fancy

    Note

    Here the word measures rank and refinement. Shakespeare's Henry the Sixth climbs from "any common man" up to "a knight, a captain and a leader," and in the phrase the common folk the word simply means people without rank.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 1 contains the quoted progression from an ordinary man to a knight, captain and leader. Gloucester speaks the lines in Act IV, scene i. gutenberg.org
  4. 4
    adjective
    Designating the vernacular, everyday name of a plant or animal, as distinct from its scientific name.

    The species' common name varies from region to region, but its Latin name does not.

    Gardeners usually know plants by their common names rather than their botanical ones.

    UsageMostly in common name, set against scientific name.

    Similarvernacular, popular

    Oppositescientific

    Note

    Here common means "of ordinary speech," not "frequent" or "plentiful." So even a rare orchid has a common name, and a scarce bird's common name may still call it common.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A rare orchid can have a common name; the ghost orchid is an example. nps.gov
    • A bird can retain 'common' in its common name despite being scarce, as the common scoter illustrates regionally. members.rspb.org.uk
  5. 5
    in species namesadjective
    Appearing as part of the everyday name of a species, usually indicating that it is abundant or widely familiar.

    The common starling has spread across much of North America.

    Birdwatchers logged dozens of common loons on the lake that morning.

    Note

    In field guides the word belongs to the name; it is not a running description. The common daisy is Bellis perennis wherever it grows. That is why the label usually signals abundance or familiarity but does not promise it: a fixed name does not change with a local count. The broader idea of an everyday name belongs to the "vernacular name" use.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The species called the common daisy is Bellis perennis. kew.org
  6. 6
    law by customadjective
    Arising from longstanding usage, custom, or judicial precedent rather than from statutes enacted by a legislature.

    Negligence doctrine developed through common law, case by case, over centuries.

    Judges in common law systems are bound by earlier decisions.

    UsageMostly in the phrase common law.

    Oppositestatutory

    Note

    William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765) says a founder and his heirs are "of common right the legal visitors" of a charitable corporation. Their right arises at common law from the founding gift itself rather than from any statute, though statutes later reshaped who visited hospitals.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of common apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This word comes from Middle English comun, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French comun, from Latin commūnis ("common, public, general"). The Latin word traces back to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "held in common" and "to exchange." It is a doublet of mean and eventually displaced the native Old English ġemǣne.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

  • Common comes from Middle English comun, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Latin commūnis. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin commūnis means common, public or general. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Latin word derives from a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European formation meaning held in common, ultimately connected with exchanging or changing. en.wiktionary.org
  • Common is a doublet of the adjective mean. en.wiktionary.org
  • Common displaced the native word inherited from Old English ġemǣne, represented by its Middle English descendants. en.wiktionary.org