Definition of common:

• To have a joint right in some common ground; to board together. A common divisor or measure, a quantity which divides two or more quantities without leaving a remainder. Common prayer, the liturgical formulary of the Church of England. Common time, those varieties of time in which each measure is divided into two or four equal parts.
• A tract of open public land.
• Commonness.
• A tract of open land, used in common by the inhabitants of a town, parish, etc.
• An open public ground.
• Land owned by a town; land open to the lower classes.
• A tract of open ground, the common property of all the members of a community; conjoint property of all the members of a community; conjoint possession.
• A tract of ground belonging to no one in particular or open to the use of all.
• lacking refinement or cultivation or taste; " he had coarse manners but a first- rate mind"; " behavior that branded him as common"; " an untutored and uncouth human being"; " an uncouth soldier-- a real tough guy"; " appealing to the vulgar taste for violence"; " the vulgar display of the newly rich"
• belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public; " for the common good"; " common lands are set aside for use by all members of a community"
• of or associated with the great masses of people; " the common people in those days suffered greatly"; " behavior that branded him as common"; " his square plebeian nose"; " a vulgar and objectionable person"; " the unwashed masses"
• to be expected; standard; " common decency"
• common to or shared by two or more parties; " a common friend"; " the mutual interests of management and labor"
• Belonging or relating equally, or similarly, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property.
• Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, considered together; general; public; as, properties common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer.
• Often met with; usual; frequent; customary.
• Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense.
• Profane; polluted.
• Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute.
• The people; the community.
• An inclosed or uninclosed tract of ground for pleasure, for pasturage, etc., the use of which belongs to the public; or to a number of persons.
• The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; -- so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.
• To converse together; to discourse; to confer.
• To participate.
• To have a joint right with others in common ground.
• Belonging equally to more than one; as common to the human race; public; usual; frequent; inferior; of low birth or origin; in grammar, applied to both masculine and feminine gender, or to any individual of a class; as, a common noun.
• Belonging equally to more than one: public: general: usual: frequent: easy to be had: of little value: vulgar.
• Belonging to several; public; general; usual; of small value; vulgar.
• Frequent or usual; customary; regular.
• Pertaining to two or more persons or things; joint; general.
• Common place; coarse; vulgar; low.
• Belonging equally to more than one, or to many indefinitely; belonging to all; public; general; frequent; usual; of little value; of low or no rank; vulgar; of verbs, both active and passive; of nouns, both masculine and feminine, also applicable to a whole class.
• Belonging equally to more than one; serving for the use of all; usual or ordinary; without rank; not distinguished by superior excellence; in gram., applied to nouns that are both masc. and fem.

Usage examples for common

1. A common object brought them together.  The Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith by George Meredith

2. That is a matter of common knowledge.  Danger! and Other Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

3. It belonged to a common friend of us both.  A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One by Thomas Frognall Dibdin

4. And for the moment, held by a common thought, every one kept silent.  Romance Island by Zona Gale