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commons

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commons¹

  • /ˈkɑmənz/ US
  • /ˈkɒmənz/ UK

noun

  1. plural plural of common

noun

  1. plural, singular, usually, in construction A public area, especially a dining hall, at a college or university; a similar shared space elsewhere.
  2. plural, singular, usually, in construction A common (common land); especially, a central section of (usually an older) town, designated as a shared area. The Renaissance festival started with the "peasants" meeting in the commons.
  3. figuratively, plural, singular The mutual good of all; the abstract concept of resources shared by more than one, for example air, water, information. "The tragedy of the commons" is that none wish to make sacrifices of their or their family's interests for the common good.

    Similar: res communis

  4. plural, singular The common people collectively, the third estate, the people not belonging to the nobility or clergy. We in the name of other Perſean ſtates [i.e. nobles], And commons of this mightie Monarchy, Preſent thee with the Emperiall Diadem.

    Similar: commoners

  5. historical, plural, singular The free burghers/bourgeoisie of a given town, taken collectively.
  6. euphemistic, obsolete, plural, singular An outhouse.

    Similar: common house, House of Commons, backhouse, backside, bog, boggard, boghouse, carsey, chamber foreign, commons, Cousin John, craphouse

  7. UK, obsolete, plural, singular Food served at a fixed rate from the college buttery, distinguished from battels. 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. plural, singular Food in general; rations. short commons

verb

  1. indicative, present, singular, third person third-person singular simple present indicative of common

Commons²

Where it comes from

Ellipsis of House of Commons.

proper noun the Commons

  1. Canadian, UK The House of Commons, part of the parliament under the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Faced with defeat in the Commons, the Government cancelled and re-advertised the contract, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company's offer being now accepted for the sea part of the route.

Commons³

Where it comes from

* English and Irish (Mayo Tipperary and Galway): variant of Cummings.

* English: variant of Common with post-medieval excrescent -s.

proper noun

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: commonalty, commonality, park, common land, green, commune, joint, cooperative, collective, heritage, agreed, shared, house, chamber, general, towns

Translations

Every language

noun a central section of an older town

Españolejido, campillo, facería
Portuguêsrossio
DeutschAllmende

noun the mutual good of all

Españolprocomún, procomunal
DeutschAllmende
Italianobene comune

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Cite this
MLA

"commons." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/commons. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

commons. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/commons

Chicago

"commons." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/commons.

BibTeX
@misc{commons_2026,
  title = {commons},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/commons},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}