| Library / English Dictionary |
COMMON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area
Example:
they went for a walk in the park
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
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)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual
Example:
a common brand of soap
Classified under:
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:
ordinary (not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree)
usual (occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure)
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 2
Meaning:
Belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
Example:
common lands are set aside for use by all members of a community
Classified under:
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 3
Meaning:
Commonly encountered
Example:
the usual greeting
Synonyms:
common; usual
Classified under:
Adjectives
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 4
Meaning:
Being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language
Example:
the technical and vulgar names for an animal species
Synonyms:
common; vernacular; vulgar
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
informal (used of spoken and written language)
Derivation:
commonness (ordinariness as a consequence of being frequent and commonplace)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Of or associated with the great masses of people
Example:
the unwashed masses
Synonyms:
common; plebeian; unwashed; vulgar
Classified under:
Adjectives
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 6
Meaning:
To be expected; standard
Example:
common decency
Classified under:
Adjectives
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)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
Example:
the vulgar display of the newly rich
Synonyms:
coarse; common; rough-cut; uncouth; vulgar
Classified under:
Adjectives
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 8
Meaning:
Common to or shared by two or more parties
Example:
the mutual interests of management and labor
Synonyms:
common; mutual
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
shared (have in common; held or experienced in common)
Derivation:
commonality; commonness (sharing of common attributes)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Of low or inferior quality or value
Example:
produced...the common cloths used by the poorer population
Synonyms:
coarse; common
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
inferior (of low or inferior quality)
Derivation:
commonness (the quality of lacking taste and refinement)
Context examples:
Anyone can get acne, but it is common in teenagers and young adults.
(Acne, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
Also, the strain has defective macrophage function reminiscent of lps mutation common to other strains.
(A/J Mouse, NCI Thesaurus)
"A" is the third most common letter in English, and the second most common in Spanish and French.
(A, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The portion of the descending aorta that lies within the abdomen, beginning below the diaphragm and ending at its division into the right and left common iliac arteries.
(Abdominal Aorta, NCI Thesaurus)
It is the most common histologic type of prostate adenocarcinoma.
(Acinar Prostate Adenocarcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)
The most common of these activating events were observed in the RTK Flt3, in N-Ras and K-Ras, in Kit, and sporadically in other RTKs.
(Acute Myeloid Leukemia Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)
The portions were handed round; those who liked took a draught of the water, the mug being common to all.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
It was impossible for her to have forgotten to feel that this arrival of their common friends must be soon bringing them together again.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Of the various subtypes, meningothelial, fibrous and transitional meningiomas are the most common.
(Meningioma, NCI Thesaurus/Adapted from WHO)
It is a common cause of hearing loss.
(Meniere's Disease, NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
