communis

Latin

Etymology

From Old Latin co(m)moinis, from Proto-Italic *kommoinis, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s, from *mey- (“to change”).

Cognate with Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“shared, communal; common”), related to immūnis, mūnia, mūnis, mūnus (compare Proto-Italic *moinos (“service”)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /komˈmuː.nis/, [kɔmˈmuːnɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /komˈmu.nis/, [komˈmuːnis]

Adjective

commūnis (neuter commūne, comparative commūnior, adverb commūniter); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together

   Synonym: (common, ordinary) vulgāris

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.573–574:

     “[...] Troiae et patriae commūnis Erīnys,
     abdiderat sēsē atque ārīs invīsa sedēbat.”

     “[Helen,] the common Fury of Troy and of her homeland, had hidden herself and was cowering unseen beside the altars.”
     (See: Erinys.)

2. of or for the community, public
3. democratic; representing the common sentiment
4. (of manners) familiar, accessible, courteous
5. (grammar) having both qualities of a subdivided category, such as a verb with both an active and a passive meaning, or a syllable being either long or short.

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	commūnis	commūne		commūnēs	commūnia
genitive	commūnis			commūnium
dative	commūnī			commūnibus
accusative	commūnem	commūne		commūnēs commūnīs	commūnia
ablative	commūnī			commūnibus
vocative	commūnis	commūne		commūnēs	commūnia

Derived terms

• commūnālis
• commūne
• commūnicātiō
• commūnicātor
• commūnicātus
• commūnicō
• commūniō
• commūnitās
• commūniter
• commūnītiō
• commūnitus
• commūnītus
• sēnsus commūnis

 

Descendants

• Gallo-Italic
  • Piedmontese: comun
• Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italian: comune
  • Sicilian: cumuni, cummuni
• Occitano-Romance
  • Catalan: comú
  • Occitan: comun
• Old French: comun
  • French: commun
    • → Romanian: comun
  • Norman: commun
  • → Middle English: comun
    • English: common
• Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friulian: comun
• Venetan: comùn
• West Iberian
  • Old Galician-Portuguese:
    • Galician: común
    • Portuguese: comum
  • Spanish: común

References

• “communis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “communis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• communis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• communis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to considerably (in no way) further the common good: multum (nihil) ad communem utilitatem afferre
    
  • to accommodate something to the standard of the popular intelligence: ad intellegentiam communem or popularem accommodare aliquid
    
  • to express oneself in popular language: ad vulgarem sensum or ad communem opinionem orationem accommodare (Off. 2. 10. 35)
    
  • (ambiguous) we know from experience: usu rerum (vitae, vitae communis) edocti sumus
    
  • (ambiguous) unanimously: uno, communi, summo or omnium consensu (Tusc. 1. 15. 35)
    
  • (ambiguous) the ordinary usage of language, everyday speech: communis sermonis consuetudo
    
  • (ambiguous) to be always considering what people think: multum communi hominum opinioni tribuere