noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:kŏm'ənəlti
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈkɒmənəlti/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The common people; the commonality.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
1906, Sinclair Lewis, "Unknown Undergraduates" first published in the Yale Literary Magazine, June, 1906, in The Man from Main Street: Selected Essays and Other Writings, 1904-1950, Harry E. Maule and Melville H. Cane (eds.), New York: Pocket Books, 1962, p. 122, Besides the men who are unknown but important there is the commonalty, whom you regard as mere entities, whose very names you do not know, or will forget before your triennial.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A group of things having similar characteristics.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A class composed of persons lacking clerical or noble rank; commoners.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The state or quality of having things in common.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A shared feature.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a class composed of persons lacking clerical or noble rank
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: commonality, commons
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: class, stratum, social class, socio-economic class
History
Etymology
From Middle English comunalte, communalte, from Old French comunalté, comunauté (modern communauté), probably from an alteration of communité, from Latin commūnitās. Some senses are influenced by commonality.
Across languages
Translations
18 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Finnish:
kansa
— common people
Finnish:
väki
— common people
Finnish:
ihmiset
— common people
Greek:
λαός
(laós)
— common people
Italian:
popolo
— common people
Italian:
popolino
— common people
Italian:
volgo
— common people
Latin:
plēbs
— common people
Russian:
общины
(obščiny)
— common people
Russian:
наро́д
(naród)
— common people
Russian:
простолюдины
(prostoljudiny)
— common people
Finnish:
luokka
— group having similar characteristics
Finnish:
rahvas
— class lacking clerical or noble rank
Finnish:
kansa
— class lacking clerical or noble rank
Italian:
volgo
— class lacking clerical or noble rank
Italian:
plebe
— class lacking clerical or noble rank
Russian:
простолюдины
(prostoljudiny)
— class lacking clerical or noble rank
Russian:
третье сосло́вие
(tretʹje soslóvije)
— class lacking clerical or noble rank
