Dictionary

commoner en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɑ.mə.nɚ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkɒm.ə.nə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey- Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s Proto-Italic *kommoinis Old Latin comoinis Latin commūnis Anglo-Norman comunbor. Middle English comun English common Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Germanic *-izô Proto-West Germanic *-iʀō Proto-Germanic *-ōzô Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀō Old English -ra Middle English -ere English -er English commoner From common + -er (comparative suffix).

Meanings

1. (comparative, form-of) comparative form of common: more common
   form of common
   • Sunday [train] services were far commoner than in later years. 1952 January, M. D. Greville, “Scottish Railways in 1852”, in Railway Magazine, page 16:

commoner en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɑ.mə.nɚ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkɒm.ə.nə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English comoner, comyner, cumuner, equivalent to common + -er.

Meanings

1. A member of the common people who holds no title or rank.
2. (UK) Someone who is not of noble rank.
   • It was revealed on Friday that Mountbatten Windsor is in line to receive a large one-off payment and an annual stipend designed to prevent him overspending in his new life as a commoner after a back-and-forth about where he would go after leaving Royal Lodge. 2025 November 1, Sammy Gecsoyler, “Andrew hoped to meet Jeffrey Epstein after his prison release, emails reveal”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • All below them [the peers], even their children, were commoners, and in the eye of the law equal to each other. 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
3. (UK, historical) Someone who is not of noble rank. ▸ A Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.
   • I am now received in, and made a Member of this Honorable Houſe of Commons, though it be a thing ſtrange, and not common in England, for an Earl and a member of the LORDS Houſe to be made a Commoner, or removed from the upper end of the to the Lower end of the Table. 1649, Michael Oldiſworth, The Speech, of Phillip Herbert, Late Earl of Pembroke. At His Admittance (as a Member) into the Honorable House of Commons, London, pages 4-5:
4. (UK, historical) Someone who is not of noble rank. ▸ One eligible to be a member of the House of Commons.
   • [I]f he be a Commoner of ſuch as is capable of being in the Houſe of Commons, at leaſt, unleſſe some Law have diſabled him. 1648, Sir Roger Twysden, The Commoners Liberty: or, The English-Mans Birth-Right, London, page 2:
5. (UK, obsolete, qualifier:Oxford University) A student who is not dependent on any foundation for support, but pays all university charges.
   • There are to this day fellow-commoners at Queens, and surely such a distinguished commoner as Fuller would have been allowed to remain on that foundation, in which he had spent seven years, in this new capacity. The expense would have been about the same, and the only way in which I can account for his migration is either pique at being passed over, or the friendship of so famed a theologian as Dr. Ward. 1886, Rev. Morris Joseph Fuller, “College Days (Sydney-Sussex). 1629-1631”, in The Life, Times and Writings of Thomas Fuller, D.D., 2nd edition, volume 1, London: S. Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowrey, pages 68–69:
6. Someone who has a right over another's land. They hold common rights because of residence or land ownership in a particular manor, especially rights on common land. eg: centuries-old grazing rights
   • Much good land might be gained from forests […] and from other commonable places, so as always there be a due care taken that the poor commoners have no injury. 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
7. (obsolete) One sharing with another in anything.
   • From the Counsell he was carried home to the Prison, and there for many days kept with bread and water, so that had the proudest Anchorite, pretending to the highest abstinence, been Commoner with him, it would have tried his swiftest Devotion to keepe pace with him. 1651, Thomas Fuller, Abel Redevivus; republished as chapter 1, in The Life, Times and Writings of Thomas Fuller, D.D., volume 2, London: S. Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowrey, 1886, page 20:
8. (obsolete) A prostitute.
   • O behold this ring / Whose high respect and rich validity / Did lack a parallel; yet for all that / He gave it to a commoner o'th' camp, / If I be one. c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, act 5, scene 3, lines 191–195:
9. a rankless or average player in Tycoon; not the tycoon, rich, poor, or beggar.

Forms

Antonyms

nobleman

Deriveds

gentleman-commoner · commonership · fellow-commoner

Holonyms

commonalty

Hyponyms

serf · neif · man in the street · yeoman · villein

Relateds

rural dweller · pauper · mundane

Synonyms

peon · pensioner · vulgar · prole · meanling · proletary · plebeian · prostitute (prostitute) · pleb · commoner · peasant · roturier

Translations (77)

ur عام لوگ (member of the common people) · sm tagata taatele (member of the common people) · mi kāraroraro (member of the common people) · ru простолюди́н (member of the common people) · pl osoba z ludu (someone not of noble rank) · pt plebeu (someone not of noble rank) · ru плебе́йка (member of the common people) · mn ᠡᠭᠡᠯ ᠠᠷᠠᠳ (member of the common people) · ja 庶民 (member of the common people) · de Bürger (someone not of noble rank) · mn ᠡᠩ ᠦᠨ ᠠᠷᠠᠳ (member of the common people) · la plēbs (someone not of noble rank) · uk просто́людець (member of the common people) · gl peiteiro (member of the common people) · la plēbs (member of the common people) · uk просто́людин (member of the common people) · zlw-ocs chlap (member of the common people) · mn энгийн ард (member of the common people) · mn ᠢᠷᠭᠡᠨ (member of the common people) · mi tautauhea (member of the common people) · de Gemeiner (member of the common people) · pl plebejka (member of the common people) · pt plebeu (member of the common people) · uk простолю́дин (member of the common people) · cmn 庶民 (member of the common people) · fr plébéien (member of the common people) · id orang awam (member of the common people) · de Plebejer (member of the common people) · ca plebea (member of the common people) · hy ռամիկ (member of the common people) · cmn 平民 (member of the common people) · id rakyat umum (member of the common people) · th ไพร่ (member of the common people) · mi marahea (member of the common people) · sv ofrälse (someone not of noble rank) · ko 서민 (member of the common people) · gl plebea (member of the common people) · mn эгэл ард (member of the common people) · sm faamolemole (someone not of noble rank) · id jelata (someone not of noble rank) · de Angehöriger des gemeinen Volkes (member of the common people) · la plēbēius (someone not of noble rank) · es plebeyo (member of the common people) · be прасталюдзі́н (member of the common people) · vi dân thường (member of the common people) · th ปุถุชน (member of the common people) · es comunero (member of the common people) · uk простолю́дець (member of the common people) · mn иргэн (member of the common people) · ja 平民 (someone not of noble rank) · th สามัญชน (someone not of noble rank) · haw makaʻāinana (member of the common people) · ja 平民 (member of the common people) · is almúgamaður (member of the common people) · vi thường dân (member of the common people) · ca plebeu (member of the common people) · th ไพร่ (someone not of noble rank) · th สามัญชน (member of the common people) · ru плебе́й (member of the common people) · egy n:D-s-nDs-A1 (member of the common people) · fr roturier (member of the common people) · mn ᠠᠷᠠᠳ (member of the common people) · pl plebejuszka (member of the common people) · de Bürgerlicher (someone not of noble rank) · pl plebejusz (member of the common people) · mn ард (member of the common people) · la plēbēius (member of the common people) · fi aateliton (someone not of noble rank) · id rakyat biasa (member of the common people) · gl plebeo (member of the common people) · mi tautauwhea (member of the common people) · ru простолюди́нка (member of the common people) · it plebeo (member of the common people) · ko 평민 (member of the common people) · mi tūtūā (member of the common people) · fr homme du peuple (member of the common people) · fi rahvas (member of the common people)