Standard Lemma guide

communal

adj · 5 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /kəˈmjuː.nəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɒm.jə.nəl/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /kəˈmju.nəl/
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /kəˈmjʉː.nəl/
  • Australian, rare: /ˈkɔm.jə.nəl/
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 M Y UW1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Pertaining to a community or a commune.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Shared by a community; public.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Defined by religious ideas; based on religion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: India

Examples

  • communal violence
  • communal politics

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: secular

4

adjective

Meaning 4

relating to a small administrative district or community

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • communal elections in several European countries

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

for or by a group rather than individuals- Paul Roche

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • dipping each his bread into a communal dish of stew
  • a communal settlement in which all earnings and food were shared
  • a group effort

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey- Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s Proto-Italic *kommoinis Old Latin comoinis Latin commūnis Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin commūnālislbor. French communalbor. English communal Borrowed from French communal, from Late Latin commūnālis, from Latin commūnis. Doublet of cominal.

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: комунален (komunalen) — pertaining to a community
  • Bulgarian: колективен (kolektiven) — pertaining to a community
  • Chinese Mandarin: 社區的 /社区的 (shèqū de) — pertaining to a community
  • Chinese Mandarin: 社群的 (shèqūn de) — pertaining to a community
  • Chinese Mandarin: 群體的 /群体的 (qúntǐ de) — pertaining to a community
  • Finnish: yhteisöllinen — pertaining to a community
  • French: communautaire — pertaining to a community
  • Galician: comunitario — pertaining to a community
  • German: gemeinschaftlich — pertaining to a community
  • German: kommunal — pertaining to a community
  • Hebrew: קהילתי (qehilaty) — pertaining to a community
  • Hebrew: קהילתית (qehilatyt) — pertaining to a community
  • Irish: pobalda — pertaining to a community
  • Irish: pobail — pertaining to a community
  • Italian: comunitario — pertaining to a community
  • Latin: commūnālis — pertaining to a community
  • Portuguese: comunitário — pertaining to a community
  • Romanian: comunitar — pertaining to a community
  • Russian: общи́нный (obščínnyj) — pertaining to a community
  • Russian: коммуна́льный (kommunálʹnyj) — pertaining to a community
  • Serbo-Croatian: комунални — pertaining to a community
  • Serbo-Croatian: за̏једничкӣ — pertaining to a community
  • Serbo-Croatian: опћедруштвени — pertaining to a community
  • Serbo-Croatian: komunalni — pertaining to a community
  • Serbo-Croatian: zȁjedničkī — pertaining to a community
  • Serbo-Croatian: općedruštveni — pertaining to a community
  • Slovak: komunitný — pertaining to a community
  • Spanish: comunitario — pertaining to a community
  • Swedish: samhällelig — pertaining to a community
  • Telugu: సామాజిక (sāmājika) — pertaining to a community
  • Bulgarian: обществен (obštestven) — shared by a community; public
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公共的 (gōnggòngde) — shared by a community; public
  • Finnish: yhteinen — shared by a community; public
  • French: commun — shared by a community; public
  • Galician: común — shared by a community; public
  • Irish: páirteach — shared by a community; public
  • Irish: pobail — shared by a community; public
  • Irish: comhchoiteann — shared by a community; public
  • Manx: co-chadjin — shared by a community; public
  • Portuguese: comum — shared by a community; public
  • Portuguese: público — shared by a community; public
  • Romanian: public — shared by a community; public
  • Russian: о́бщий (óbščij) — shared by a community; public
  • Russian: обще́ственный (obščéstvennyj) — shared by a community; public
  • Russian: коллекти́вный (kollektívnyj) — shared by a community; public
  • Russian: коммуна́льный (kommunálʹnyj) — shared by a community; public
  • Slovak: komunitný — shared by a community; public
  • Slovak: verejný — shared by a community; public
  • Swedish: allmän — shared by a community; public
  • Swedish: gemensam — shared by a community; public
Real reading context

communal in complete knowledge articles