commonalty

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkɑmənəlti/ UK /ˈkɒmənəlti/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the common people as distinct from the nobility

The reforms were welcomed by the commonalty but resisted by lords.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the common people as... commonerspopulace massesplebeianscommonality public

Opposites

nobility aristocracy gentry elite

Word family

Related forms common commonality commonwealth

Etymology

From Old French comunalte ('community, commonalty'), from comunal ('common'), from Latin communalis, from communis ('common, shared'), from com- ('together') + munus ('duty, office').

comunalte Old French communis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# commonalty

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɑmənəlti/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɒmənəlti/

## Meanings
1. the common people as distinct from the nobility

## Examples
- The reforms were welcomed by the commonalty but resisted by lords.

## Synonyms
- commoners
- populace
- masses
- plebeians
- commonality
- public

## Antonyms
- nobility
- aristocracy
- gentry
- elite

## Related Forms
- common
- commonality
- commonwealth

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: comunalte
- Root: communis

## Etymology
From Old French comunalte ('community, commonalty'), from comunal ('common'), from Latin communalis, from communis ('common, shared'), from com- ('together') + munus ('duty, office').

## AI Etymology
Commonalty comes from Old French comunalte ('community, commonalty'), from comunal ('common'), from Latin communalis, from communis ('common, shared'), from com- ('together') + munus ('duty, office'). The historical trail runs through comunalte in Old French and communis in Latin. Morphologically, commonalty is transparent: it draws on Old French comunalte ('community, commonalty'), from comunal ('common'), from Latin communalis, from communis ('common, shared'), from com- ('together') + munus ('duty, office'). Used as a noun, commonalty now means "the common people as distinct from the nobility", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as common, commonality, and commonwealth. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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