You searched for: “common
common (s) (noun), commons (pl)
An area of grassy land that is open for everyone to use, usually near the center of a town or a city: "The cattle grazed on the common and were watched over by an old man and his grandson."
This entry is located in the following unit: commu-, comm- (page 1)
common (adjective), more common, most common
1. Shared mutually by more than one person: "The two friends discovered they shared many common interests including silent films."
2. Happening often, regularly, or frequently in a normal way: "Snow this time of year is a very common experience to be enjoyed by all in many areas of the world."
3. Simple and ordinary: "James and Jane had a common breakfast of cereal and toast."
This entry is located in the following unit: commu-, comm- (page 1)
common, vulgar
common (KAHM uhn) (adjective)
1. That which is familiar or known by the general population: It was common knowledge in the village that if there were no clouds in the sky, it obviously would not rain.
2. Falling below generally accepted standards, second rate: Tasha's manners appeared to be common, suggesting that she had not lived in the city for very long.
vulgar (VUL guhr) (adjective)
1. Crude, undeveloped, lacking in generally accepted good taste: Roderick's speech was peppered with vulgar expressions which offended the audience.
2. Relating to the common people or the speech of common people: The word vulgar comes from Latin vulgus, "the common people, the multitude, a crowd, the throng" which is why it was placed here as a comparison with the other word in this group.

It is common knowledge that it is considered vulgar to use profane language while yammering on the radio and TV.

More possibly related word entries
Units related to: “common
(Latin: common, universal, public; multitude and common people)
(Greek: same, equal, like, similar, common; one and the same)
(Latin: cheap, worthless, base, common; low status, low quality)
(Latin: common people, multitude, common)
(considered to be the most common phobia)
(Greek: choledochos, from chole, "bile" + dechomai, "to receive"; the common bile duct or tube; conveying bile; containing bile, which is a yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and passes through the common bile duct into the first section of the small intestine or duodenum where it helps to digest fat)
(eating dirt or earth is a common practice on a global scale)
(Greek: same, like, resembling, sharing in common, similar, equal)
(the word internet is now a common noun, not a proper noun)
(Latin > French: done in exchange; reciprocal; with the same feelings or relationships; shared by two people or groups, in common with each other)
(Latin: rule, pattern; normalis, "right angled, made according to a carpenter's or mason's square"; then, "conforming to common standards, usual")
(a group of viruses which are a common cause of gastroenteritis, or "stomach flu")
(Greek: mind, intellect; the reason; common sense)
(Latin: marked with the palm of the hand; adorned with palm leaves; used primarily in the sense of "having five lobes that diverge from a common center" [as fingers from an open palm])
(Latin: common people, common multitude; as opposed to the patricians [upper-class citizens] of Roman times)
(possibly knowing less but understanding more; utilizing common sense to an uncommon degree)
Word Entries containing the term: “common
common migraine
A migraine without an aura. This is the most frequent type of migraine, accounting for about 80 to 85 percent of migraines.

An aura is a sensation that is perceived by a patient which precedes a condition affecting the brain.

An aura often occurs before a migraine or seizure. It may consist of flashing lights, a gleam of light, blurred vision, an odor, the feeling of a breeze, numbness, weakness, or difficulty in speaking.

This entry is located in the following unit: cranio-, crani-, cran- + (page 1)
common place (s) (noun), common places (pl)
1. Ordinary or something that is dull and unchallenging; tired and clichéd: Things that are common place can be found just about every where!

Issues that are common place include things and behavior which are ordinary; for example, a job that is a boring or a mind-numbing task is common place.

A word or saying that is common place is a cliché which means that it has become meaningless and annoying. 2. Etymology: from Latin locus communis, "general topic".

This entry is located in the following unit: commu-, comm- (page 1)
common sense (s) (noun) (no pl)
1. Sound and practical judgment that is separate from specialized knowledge, training, etc.: Mike had common sense when he worked as a carpenter.
2. Practical judgment derived from experience rather than just from study alone: Marie used common sense when she went hiking during the summer by always carrying a bottle of water with her.
This entry is located in the following units: commu-, comm- (page 1) Quotes: Wisdom (page 1) senso-, sens-, sensi-, sensori-, sent- (page 1)
common spinal sciatica
A sciatic neuralgia with pain in the lumbosacral region that radiates down the back of the thigh, the lateral aspect of the leg, and into the foot.

It results from involvement of the sciatic nerve roots or trunk by tumor, intervertebral disk, or inflammation.

It may be accompanied by a neurologic deficit of the reflexes, muscle power, or sensation in the involved lower extremity.

This entry is located in the following unit: sciatica, sciatic + (page 1)
encapsulate [incapsulate is a less common spelling] (verb), encapsulates; encapsulated; encapsulating
1. To encase in or as if in a capsule.
2. To express in a brief summary; epitomize: headlines that encapsulate the news.
3. To show or to express the main idea or quality of something in a brief way.
4. To completely cover something; especially, so that it will not touch anything else: "The contaminated material should be encapsulated and removed."
encapsulation; incapsulation is a less common spelling
1. The act or process of enclosing or being enclosed within a sheath not normal to the part.
2. The growth of a membrane around (any part) so as to enclose it in a capsule.
3. Formation of a capsule or a sheath around a structure.
4. Computer science, the ability to provide computer users with a well-defined interface to a set of functions in a way which hides their internal workings.
5. Computer science, a method of making a software system modular by creating well-defined interface routines that deal with a particular kind of data and allowing other programs to access the data only through those routines; the interface routines encapsulate the data.
6. Photovoltaic or the production of electric power from electromagnetic radiation, involving a method by which photovoltaic cells are protected from the environment, typically by being laminated between a glass superstrate (covering on the sun side of a photovoltaic module) and an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) substrate (physical support material on which an integrated circuit is constructed).

Photovoltaic cells are single semiconducting elements of small size that absorb light or other bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and emit electricity.

This entry is located in the following unit: capsulo-, capsul-, caps- (page 2)
(some of the common terms used in computer science)
(just a few of the many important words with several applications in common practice and referring to special technical and scientific operations)
(some of the common terms and abbreviations used by those who send out text messages)
(a suffix freely used to designate someone who is associated with, concerned with, or characterized by a thing or an expression; sometimes, with a jocular [humorous] or derisive [contempt or ridicule] intent; borrowed from Russian, a common personal suffix)
Word Entries at Get Words containing the term: “common
Can you translate the following sesquipedalians into "common English"?

Here is an old proverb: While bryophytic plants are typically encountered as substrata of earthly or mineral matter in concreted state, discrete substrata elements occasionally display a roughly spherical configuration which, in the presence of suitable gravitational and other effects, lends itself to a combined translatory and rotational motion. One notices in such cases an absence of the otherwise typical accretion of bryophyta.


The proverb means: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”



What was a young man saying to a young woman in the following sesquipedalian?


They shine more rutilent than ligulin—those labial components that surround thy pericranial orifice, wherein denticulations niveous abound!

Commingle them with my equivalents! Let like with like nectareously converge! From the predestined confluence some sempiternal rapture must emerge!


As Willard Espy put it, “After all, he was only asking her for a kiss. Jargon may be useful to hide one’s real thinking, or lack of it, but it can be downright self-defeating if you are trying to persuade someone to do something. A young man learned that when he addressed these words to the maiden he loved, only to be shown the door.”

Both of the foregoing were compiled by Willard R. Espy.


The letters MS refer to two things: One is a debilitating and surprisingly widespread affliction that renders the sufferer barely able to perform the simplest task; the other is a disease. In other words, MS stands for the name of a well-known software company or for the disease Multiple Sclerosis.

This entry is located in the following unit: Focusing on Words Newsletter #12 (page 1)
common denominator
A denominator, the bottom number in a fraction, which is common to all the fractions within an equation.
This entry is located in the following unit: Measurements and Mathematics Terms (page 4)
common prepositions (pl)

The following list of common prepositions has only a few of the many prepositions that are available in English. When any of the prepositions have two or more words they are called compound prepositions.

  • about
  • above
  • according to
  • across
  • after
  • against
  • along with
  • among
  • apart from
  • around
  • aside from
  • at
  • because of
  • before
  • behind
  • below
  • beneath
  • beside
  • besides
  • between
  • beyond
  • by
  • despite
  • down
  • during
  • except
  • for
  • from
  • in
  • in addition to
  • in back of
  • in place of
  • inside
  • in spite of
  • instead of
  • into
  • in view of
  • like
  • near
  • next to
  • of
  • off
  • on
  • on account of
  • opposite
  • out
  • outside
  • over
  • prior to
  • through
  • throughout
  • to
  • toward
  • under
  • underneath
  • until
  • up
  • upon
  • with
  • within
  • without
This entry is located in the following unit: preposition (s), prepositions (pl) (page 1)