common Definition

common
adj

1. Often met with; frequent; familiar.

Example: a common mistake
Thesaurus: habitual, regular, inveterate; customary, characteristic.
2. Shared by two or more people, things, etc.

Example: characteristics common to both animals
3. Publicly owned.

Thesaurus: communal, public, shared, joint, mutual; Antonym: private.
4. Said of a standard one has a right to expect.

Example: common decency
5. Widespread.

Example: common knowledge
Thesaurus: general, widespread, well-known, familiar, prevalent; Antonym: secret.
6. derog
Lacking taste or refinement; vulgar.
7a. Said of the ordinary type;

Example: the common cold
Thesaurus: ordinary, average, conventional, plain, quotidian, mediocre; Antonym: unique, distinguished.
7b. Especially of plants and animals: general or ordinary.

Example: common toad
Example: common bindweed
8. Not of high rank or class.

Example: the common people
9. math.
Shared by two or more numbers.
Example: highest common factor

noun

1. A piece of land that is publicly owned or available for public use.
2. law.
A right to something, or to do something, on someone else's land.
3. slang
Common sense. See also commons.

Derivative: commonly
adverb

Derivative: commonness
noun

Idiom: the

Common touch an ability, in someone distinguished by accomplishment or rank, to relate sociably to ordinary people.

Idiom: in common

Said of two people with regard to their interests, etc: shared.

In joint use or ownership.
Example: a garden owned in common by the residents

Idiom: make common cause

To co-operate to achieve a common aim.

Etymology: 13c: as commun, from French comun, from Latin communis.