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common

¹com·mon

adjective \ˈkä-mən\

: belonging to or shared by two or more people or groups

: done by many people

: occurring or appearing frequently : not rare

Full Definition of COMMON

a : of or relating to a community at large : public <work for the common good>

b : known to the community <common nuisances>

a : belonging to or shared by two or more individuals or things or by all members of a group <a common friend> <buried in a common grave>

b : belonging equally to two or more mathematical entities <triangles with a common base>

c : having two or more branches <common carotid artery>

a : occurring or appearing frequently : familiar <a common sight>

b : of the best known or most frequently seen kind —used especially of plants and animals <the common housefly>

c : vernacular 2 <common names>

a : widespread, general <common knowledge>

b : characterized by a lack of privilege or special status <common people>

c : just satisfying accustomed criteria : elementary <common decency>

a : falling below ordinary standards : second-rate

b : lacking refinement : coarse

: denoting nominal relations by a single linguistic form that in a more highly inflected language might be denoted by two or more different forms <common gender> <common case>

: of, relating to, or being common stock

— com·mon·ly adverb

— com·mon·ness \-mən-nəs\ noun

See common defined for English-language learners »

See common defined for kids »

Examples of COMMON

They have a common ancestor.
The people on the island have a sense of common identity.
It is common practice for one town's fire department to help another town when there is a big fire.
Electric windows are a common feature in new cars.
“Smith” is a common name.
I think some of the most common flowers are also some of the prettiest.
cures for the common cold

Origin of COMMON

Middle English commun, from Anglo-French, from Latin communis — more at mean

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to COMMON

Synonyms: common or garden [chiefly British], commonplace, everyday, familiar, frequent, garden-variety, household, ordinary, quotidian, routine, ubiquitous, usual, a dime a dozen

Antonyms: extraordinary, infrequent, rare, seldom, uncommon, unfamiliar, unusual

Synonym Discussion of COMMON

common, ordinary, plain, familiar, popular, vulgar mean generally met with and not in any way special, strange, or unusual. common implies usual everyday quality or frequency of occurrence <a common error> <lacked common honesty> and may additionally suggest inferiority or coarseness <common manners>. ordinary stresses conformance in quality or kind with the regular order of things <an ordinary pleasant summer day> <a very ordinary sort of man>. plain is likely to suggest homely simplicity <plain hard-working people>. familiar stresses the fact of being generally known and easily recognized <a familiar melody>. popular applies to what is accepted by or prevalent among people in general sometimes in contrast to upper classes or special groups <a writer of popular romances>. vulgar, otherwise similar to popular, is likely to carry derogatory connotations (as of inferiority or coarseness) <souvenirs designed to appeal to the vulgar taste>.