commons

English Online Dictionary. What means commons‎? What does commons mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: kŏmʹənz, IPA^(key): /ˈkɑmənz/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kŏmʹənz, IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmənz/
• Hyphenation: com‧mons

Noun

commons

1. plural of common

Noun

commons

1. (usually singular in construction) A public area, especially a dining hall, at a college or university; a similar shared spaced elsewhere.
2. (usually singular in construction) A common (common land); especially, a central section of (usually an older) town, designated as a shared area.

3. (figuratively) The mutual good of all; the abstract concept of resources shared by more than one, for example air, water, information.

   Synonym: res communis

4. The common people collectively, the third estate, the people not belonging to the nobility or clergy
5. (chiefly historical) The free burghers/bourgeoisie of a given town, taken collectively.
6. (euphemistic, obsolete) An outhouse.

   Synonyms: common house, House of Commons; see also Thesaurus:outhouse

7. (obsolete, UK, Oxford University) Food served at a fixed rate from the college buttery, distinguished from battels.
   • 1875, Walter Bradford Woodgate, "Oars and Sculls," and How to Use Them (page 125)

     At the same time, the fashion at Oxford of confining lunch to a "commons" of bread and butter and a glass of beer till the crew reaches Putney (when a little meat is allowed,) is unreasonable.

8. Food in general; rations.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

commons

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of common

References

• “commons”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• commons on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Verb

commons

1. inflection of commer:
   1. first-person plural present indicative
   2. first-person plural imperative