Commonwealth English en · NOUN
Meanings
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(uncommon, uncountable) The generalised variety of English spoken and written primarily in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, sometimes excluding Canada (especially in the context of pronunciation); always excluding the United States of America. (i.e. non-American English)
The written form of the language universally taught in schools is Commonwealth English with a slight emphasis on a few words which might be more common in the specific areas than others.
2006, Namrata Palta, Preparing for Call Center Interviews, →ISBN, pages 80–81:2005, Wikipedia contributors, “Amnesia”, in English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, revision 24227472:
2008, Icon Group International staff, Disturbances: Webster’s Quotations, Facts and Phrases, Icon Group International, p 384 * Amnesia (or amnaesia in Commonwealth English) is a condition in which memory is disturbed. * entry adapted from
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(rare, uncountable) The group of varieties of English used in the ex-colonial member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, in distinction to the varieties used in Britain itself
17: The three major forms of Modern English—British, American, and Commonwealth—are very nearly identical on the printed page, a great source of the linguistic unity and cultural solidarity of the Anglo-Saxon civilization. 25: Commonwealth English is very young in the prestige of its independent status.
1966, John A. Nist, A Structural History of English, New York: St. Martin's Press.:164: For instance, the terms “United Kingdom spellings,” “English spellings,” and “Commonwealth spellings” are not synonymous, and many of the so-called American spellings will frequently be found as alternate choices in other countries. 169–70: Across the world, many former U.K. colonies use English as a major language, and their standard resembles the British standard more than the American. The term “Commonwealth English” is a general term used to refer to this variety of English, which in theory differs little from “British English” as used in Great Britain. ¶ Australia is the best-known example, but even in nations where English is not the official or most widely used language, Commonwealth English is extremely important in commerce and government—as is the case in Nigeria, Pakistan, and India, which is the second-most-populated country in the world.
2006, Larry Beason, Eyes Before Ease: The Unsolved Mysteries and Secret Histories of Spelling:There are also other reasons to account for differences between British English on the one hand and American and Commonwealth English on the other.
1954, J.A. Sheard, The Words We Use:
Antonyms
North American English (antonym(s) of “variety of English used in the UK and former colonies, excluding North America”) · American English (antonym(s) of “variety of English used in the UK and former colonies, excluding North America”)