community
Pluralcommunities
- 1A group of people who share something, like a religion, a job or an interest, including groups that meet online.
Like a big family whose members all share the same customs.
The Polish community in our city holds a festival each spring.
Many small communities still speak their own language at home.
UsageOften the + a describing word + community: the Polish community, the online community.
- 2The people who live in the same place, like a town or part of a city, seen as one group.
The whole community came out to help clean up after the flood.
Our community is raising money to fix the playground on Elm Street.
UsageOften before another word: a community center, a community garden. Often used with local: the local community.
Similarpopulation, residents, inhabitants, townspeople
Note
- 3The feeling of sharing the same interests and attitudes with other people.
Like the warm feeling you get when everyone on a team wants the same thing.
A strong sense of community keeps the neighborhood close.
Working together gave the volunteers a real feeling of community.
UsageUsually used without a: a sense of community, a feeling of community.
Similarfellowship, togetherness, solidarity, kinship, camaraderie
Oppositeisolation, alienation
Note
- 4A group of people who live together and share their homes, work, or beliefs.
Like a big household where everyone shares the chores and the rooms.
She lives in a community where everyone shares the cooking and the farm work.
The nuns live in small communities, sharing their homes, meals, and work.
UsageLive in community means live together as a group. A community is the group.
Similarcommune, collective
Note
Less common meanings
- 5All the different living things that share one area and depend on each other.
Like all the animals and plants in one pond, each one needing the others to live.
A pond community includes fish, frogs, insects, and plants.
Coral reefs support some of the richest communities on Earth.
Note
- 6The sharing of something so that people enjoy or own it together.
Besides, you are depriving yourself of the comforts of her sympathy; and not merely that, but also endangering the only bond that can keep hearts together—an unreserved community of thought and feeling.
1819, [Washington Irving], “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. No. III. The Wife.”Here, community means sharing, so thoughts and feelings held in common.a community of goods
Here, community means sharing, so goods owned together by everyone. - 7The state of being alike or sharing the same nature.
Note
- 8The state of being common or happening very often.
So when he had occaſion to be ſeene, / He was but as the Cuckoe is in Iune, / Heard, not regarded: Seene, but with ſuch eie / As ſicke and blunted with communitie, / Affoord no extraordinary gaze.
c. 1597, [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the FourthHere, communitie means commonness, being seen so often that nobody pays attention.Note
- 9A small local area in Wales that forms the lowest level of local government and usually has its own council.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Latin communitas, based on communis meaning "common" or "public". It reached English through Old French.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Community derives from Latin communitas. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin communitas is based on communis, meaning “common” or “public”. en.wiktionary.org
- Community reached English through Old French. en.wiktionary.org