common 
untmial, or refnril ; ordinary, to distinguished or superior; 
filriar, to polite or refined; mean, to high or eminent. 
Sort our nobles from our common men. 
SAafr., Hen. V., Iv. 7. 
Choice word anil measured phrase above the reach 
Of ordinary men. 
Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence, st. 14. 
The small jealousies of vulgar minds would be merged 
in an expanded comprehensive, constitutional sentiment 
of old, family, fraternal regard. 
Jt. Choate, Addresses, p. 37. 
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? lie shall stand 
before kings ; he shall not stand before mean men. 
Prov. xxii. 29. 
II. ' [( ME. comon, conmn, comyn, etc., 
usually in pi. comons, etc., the common peo- 
ple, commons (people), commons (fare), = 
MHG. commune, commie, < OF. commune, F. 
commune (> mod. E. commune 2 , n.) = Pr. co- 
miaia, conntnia = It. comuna, < L. commune, that 
which is common, the community, in ML. a 
commune (mixed with ML. communia and com- 
nmna, a common pasture, common right, a so- 
ciety, guild), prop. neut. of communis, common : 
see above.] If. One of the common people; 
collectively, the people at large ; the public ; 
the lower classes. 
Yeman on foote, and communes many oou 
With schorte staves. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale (ed. Morris), 1. 1651. 
Digest things rightly, 
Touching the weal o' the common; you shall find 
No public benefit which you receive 
But it proceeds, or comes, from them to you. 
Shak., Cor., i. 1. 
2. 2>1. See commons. 3. A tract of ground the 
use of which is not appropriated to an indi- 
vidual, but belongs to the public or to a num- 
ber; in law, an open ground, or that soil the 
use of which belongs equally to the inhabitants 
of a town or of a lordship, or to a certain num- 
ber of proprietors. 
The little village nestling between park and palace, 
around a patch of turfy common, . . . retained to my 
modernized fancy the lurking semblance of a feudal ham- 
let. //. James, Jr., Pass. Pilgrim, p. 27. 
The pleasant green commons or squares which occur in 
the midst of towns and cities in England and the United 
States most probably originated from the coalescence of 
adjacent mark-communities, whereby the border-laud 
used in common by all was brought into the centre of the 
aggregate. J. Fiske, Amer. Pol. Ideas, p. 40. 
According to the doctrine of the books a common is the 
waste of a manor. F. . Pollack, Land Laws, p. 40. 
4. In law, a right which one person may have 
to take a profit from the land or waters of an- 
other, as to pasture his cattle, to dig turf, to 
catch fish, to cut wood, or the like, in common 
with the owner of the land: called common of 
pasture, of turbary, of piscary, of estovers, etc. 
Common, or right of common, is said to be appendant, 
appurtenant, because of vicinage, or in gross. Common 
appendant is a right belonging to the owners or occupiers 
of arable land to put commonable beasts upon the lord's 
waste, and upon the lands of other persons within the 
same manor. Common appurtenant may be annexed to 
lands in other lordships, or extend to other beasts besides 
those which are generally commonable ; this is not of 
common right, but is to be claimed only by immemorial 
usage and prescription. Common because of vicinage, or 
neighborhood, is where the inhabitants of two townships 
lying contiguous to each other have usually intercom- 
moned with one another, the beasts of the one straying 
into the other's fields ; this is a permissive right. Corn- 
man in gross, or at large, is annexed to a man's person, 
being granted to him and his heirs by deed ; or it may be 
claimed by prescriptive right, as by a parson of a church or 
other corporation sole. 
Rights to hunt and fish were, in most cases, assumed by 
the landlords, who distributed them in the form of rights 
of common among their tenants. The right to fish in the 
lord's waters is called, in the English law, the common of 
piscary. A common of fowling is not unheard of. 
D. W. Ross, German Land-holding, Notes, p. 203. 
Common of the Saints, in the Bom. Cath. Ch., an office 
or form of service suitable for use on a festival of any saint 
of a particular kind or class, for instance, a martyr, a con- 
fessor, a virgin, etc. ; or the part of the missal or breviary 
containing the collects, lections, antiphons, psalms, etc., 
used in such offices : distinguished from the Proper of the 
Saints, which is suitable for commemoration of one indi- 
vidual saint only. Commons Act, an English statute of 
1876 (39 and 40 Viet., c. 56) for the regulation and improve- 
ment of commons. 
common (kom'on), v. [< ME. comonen, comu- 
nen, comynen, communen, etc., < OF. comunier 
(F. communier (only in sense of 'receive or ad- 
minister the sacrament'), > later E. commune 1 , 
v., with accent kept on the last syllable), later 
communiques, = Pr. communiar, communiquar, 
comunicar = Sp. comunicar = Pg. communicar 
= It. eomunicare, < L. communicare (pp. com- 
municatus, > E. communicate, q. v.), have in 
common, share, impart, consult, communicate, 
< communis, common: see common, a., com- 
mune^, v., an& communicate."] l.intrans. If. To 
participate in common ; enjoy or suffer in com- 
1134 
mon. 2t. To confer; discourse together; com- 
mune; speak. 
If thou shalt common or talke with any man : stande 
not styll in one place yf it be vpou y e bare grounde, or 
grasse. Babees Book (E. E. T. 8.), p. 248. 
Embassadors were sent upon both parts, and divers 
means of entreaty were commoned of. 
ifrafton, Edw. III., an. 44. 
3. To have a joint right with others in common 
ground. Johnson. 4. To live together or in 
common ; eat at a table in common. Also com- 
monize. 
In those places it is probable they not only lived, but 
also commoned together, upon such provisions as were 
provided for them. Wheatley, Schools of the Prophets. 
Il.t trans. To communicate. 
The holi goost makith holi chirche 
Of feithful men, bi comynynge 
Ech oon to othir what thei kunne worche. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 102. 
Comounne ge not this book of deuyne secretes to wickid 
men and auerous. 
Book ofQuinte Essence (ed. Furnivall), p. 3. 
commonable (kom'pn-a-bl), a. [< common, v., 
+ -able.'] 1. Held in common ; subject to gen- 
eral use. 
A very few centuries ago, nearly the whole of the lands 
of England lay in an open, and more or less in a common- 
able state. Maine, Village Communities, p. 90. 
Many commonable hay-fields are also found which are 
thrown open earlier in the year [than Lammas Day], as 
soon as the hay-harvest is over. 
F. Pollock, Land Laws, p. 37. 
2. Pasturable on common land. 
Commonable beasts are either beasts of the plough or 
such as manure the ground. Blackstone, Com., ii. 33. 
Commonable Rights Compensation Act. See com- 
pentftttion. 
commonage (kom'on-aj), . [< OF. commu- 
nage, < commun, common, + -nge: see common, 
a., and -age.~] 1. The use of anything in com- 
mon with others ; specifically, pasturage or the 
right of pasturing on a common. 
Landlords had often been guilty not only of harshness, 
but of positive breach of contract, by withdrawing from 
the tenants a right of commonage which had been given 
them as part of their bargain, when they received their 
small tenancies. Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., xvi. 
2. That which belongs equally to all; that 
which is common or public. [Bare.] 
The rights of man are liberty and an equal participation 
of the commonage of nature. Shelley, in Dowden, I. 265. 
commonality! (kom-o-nal'i-ti), n. An obsolete 
form of commonalty, Grafton. 
commonalty (kom'on-al-ti), . [Formerly also 
commonality; early mod. E. commonaltie, com- 
minaltie; < ME. communalite, comonalte, comy- 
nalte, < OF. communalte, -aute, F. communaute' 
= Pr. communautat = It. comunalta (obs.), co- 
mnnalita,< ML. f communalita(t-)s,<. communa- 
lis, common: see communal. Cf. commonty 1 .'] 
If. The public; the people; the multitude. 
Bothe chefe rulers & all the comynalte of the lewes in- 
ioyed gretely & thanked ye verray god of Israeli. 
Joseph ofArimathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 28. 
[It] being most truly sayd, that a multitude or commin- 
altie is hard to please and easie to offend. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie (ed. Arber), p. 132. 
2f. Commonwealth; republic. Chaucer. 3. 
Specifically, the common people, (a) in monar- 
chical countries, all who do not belong to the nobility or 
the titled classes. 
The commonalty, like the nobility, are divided into sev- 
eral degrees. Blackstone, Com., i. 12. 
The nobility or gentry possess the dignities and employ- 
ments, in which they never permit strangers or the com- 
monalty to have any participation. 
J. Adams, Works, IV. 360. 
In the reign of Edward I. was passed the famous statute 
that no tax should be levied without the joint consent of 
Lords and Commons. In that of Edward III. the laws 
were declared to be made with the consent of the com- 
monalty, which by a Royal Charter is thus acknowledged 
as an " estate of the realm." 
A. Fonblanque, Jr., How we are Governed, p. 7. 
(6) In republican countries, the mass of the inhabitants, 
as distinguished from those in authority, (c) In a more 
restricted sense, the uneducated and uncultured, as dis- 
tinguished from the learned and intelligent, (d) In a city, 
the mass of citizens, as represented by or acting through 
the corporate authorities : as, the mayor, aldermen, and 
commonalty of the city of New York do enact as follows. 
(e) The members of an incorporated company other than 
its officers. Rapalje and Lawrence. 
commonancet (kom'on-ans), n. [< ML. commn- 
nantia, < communa, a" common: see common, n. 
and v., and -ance.~] In laic, the commoners or 
tenants, or tenants and inhabitants, who have 
the right of common or of commoning in open 
field. 
commoner (kom 'on - er), n. [< ME. comoner, 
comyner, cumuner, a partaker, a citizen, a coun- 
cilor, < comonen, common, partake: see com- 
mon, .] 1 . One of the common people ; a mem- 
ber of the commonalty. 
commonly 
Doubt not the commoners, for whom we stand, 
But they, upon their ancient malice, will 
Forget, with the least cause, these his new honours. 
Shak., Cor., li. 1. 
Their [royal troops'] munitions, armour, treasure, and 
ordnance were actually in the hands of the commoners ; 
when, unhappily for their cause, instead of improving 
their advantage, these peasant soldiers began to rifle the 
iKwty. B. W. Dixon, Hist. Church of Eng., xv. 
Specifically 2. A person inferior in rank to 
the nobility; one of the commons. 
All below them [the peers], even their children, were 
commoners, and in the eye of the law equal to each other. 
Hallam. 
The only distinction that the law of England knows is 
the distinction between peer and commoner. 
E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 307. 
3. A member of the British House of Commons. 
[The difference] between a representing commoner in his 
publick calling and the same person in common life. 
Smft. 
4f. A member of a common council; a com- 
mon-councilman. 
That the worthy men granule no yefte [gift] of the 
comyn gader wk>ut the aduise of the xlviij. comyners. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 372. 
5. One who has a joint right in common 
ground. Bacon. 6. A student of the second 
rank in the University of Oxford, not dependent 
on the foundation for support, but paying for 
his board and eating at the common table : cor- 
responding to a pensioner at Cambridge. 7. 
One who boards in commons. 8f. A prosti- 
tute. 
A commoner o' the camp. Shak. , All's Well, v. 3. 
9f . A partaker ; one sharing with another. 
Cumuner [var. comynere] of that glorye. 
\\ T yclif, 1 Pet. v. 1 (Oxf.). 
Lewis . . . resolved to be a commoner with them in 
weal or woe. Fuller, Holy War, p. 196. 
Gentleman commoner, a member of the highest class of 
commoners at the University of Oxford in England. Great 
commoner, a title applied to the first William Pitt (Lord 
Chatham) and to W. E. Gladstone, on account of their pre- 
eminence in debate and influence as members of the Brit- 
ish House of Commons. 
commoney (kom'on-i), n. [< common + -e# 2 .] 
One of a common'kind of playing-marbles. 
Inquiring whether he had won any alley tors or com- 
moneys lately (both of which I understand to be a particu- 
lar species of marbles much prized by the youth of this 
town). Dickens, Pickwick, xxxiv. 
commonise, r. See commonize. 
commonitiont (kom-o-nish'on), n. [< L. commo- 
nitio(n-), < commonere, pp. vommonitus, put in 
mind, remind, < com- (intensive) + monere, ad- 
vise, put in mind: see monish, admonish, etc., 
and cf. monition, admonition.'] An admonition 
or warning ; an advertisement. Bailey. 
commonitivet (ko-mon'i-tiv), a. [< L. commo- 
nitus, pp. .of commonere, admonish (see commo- 
nition), + -ive.] Warning; monitory. 
Whose cross was only commemorative and commonitive. 
Bp. Hall, Remains, p. 14. 
commonitoryt (ko-mon'i-to-ri), a. [< LL. cotn- 
monitorius, < conimonitor, admonisher, < L. com- 
monere, admonish: see commonition.~\ Giving 
admonition; monitory. 
Letters commonitor>j, exhortatory, and of correction. 
Becket, Letter to the King, in Foxe's Martyrs. 
commonize (kom'on-iz), r. ; pret. and pp. com- 
montsed, ppr. commonizing. [< common + -ize.~\ 
I. trans. To make common. [Rare.] 
There being a movement in favor of enameling wood, 
because from the expensiveness of the process it is not 
likely to be commonised by use in hotels, bar-rooms and 
railroad stations, as hard woods have been. 
Art Age, IV. 43. 
II. intrans. To eat at a table in common: 
same as common, v. i., 4. [Bare.] 
About eight o'clock he [the medieval undergraduate] 
commonizes with a Paris man . . . who has an admirable 
mode of cooking omelettes, which makes his company 
much sought after at breakfast time. 
A. Lang, Historical Descrip. of Oxford. 
Also spelled commonise. 
common-lawyer (kom-ou-la'yer), n. One 
versed in the common law. 
commonly (kom'on-li), adv. [< ME. comounli, 
comunliche, etc.; <I common + -fy 2 .] In a com- 
mon manner, (at) Together ; in common. 
Thei mygten not dwel comounli [var. in comyn, Purv.]. 
Wyclif, Gen. xiii. 6 (Oxf.). 
(M) Jointly ; familiarly. 
As he thereon stood gazing he might see 
The blessed Angels to and fro descend, . . . 
As commonly aa trend does with his frend. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 66. 
(c) Usually; generally ; ordinarily; for the most part: as, 
confirmed habits commonly continue through life. 
Nobility of birth commonly abateth industry. 
Bacon, Nobility. 
Men . . . commonly know their own opinions, but are 
often ignorant of their own principles. 
Gladstone, Might of Right, p. 184. 
