common

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   having no special distinction or quality

   widely known or commonly encountered

2. 2
   adj

   commonly encountered

   a common (or familiar) complaint

3. 3
   adj

   being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language

   common parlance

4. 4
   adj

   of or associated with the great masses of people

   the common people in those days suffered greatly

5. 5
   adj

   common to or shared by two or more parties

   a common friend

6. 6
   adj

   Mutual; shared by more than one.

   The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.

7. 7
   adj

   Of a quality: existing among virtually all people; universal.

   common knowledge, common decency, common sense

8. 8
   adj

   Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

   It is common to find sharks off this coast.

Etymology

From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ȝemǣne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, mǣne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ġemǣne (“common, universal”)), Mid…