Commons COMMONS, n. plu. 1. The common people, who inherit or
possess no honors or titles; the vulgar. 2. In England, the lower
house of Parliament, consisting of the representatives of cities, boroughs
and counties, chosen by men possessed of the property or qualifications
required by law. This body is called the House of Commons. The House of
Representatives in North Carolina bears the same name. 3. Common
grounds; land possessed or used by two or more persons in common.
4. Food provided at a common table, as in colleges, where many persons
eat at the same table or in the same hall. Their commons, though but
coarse, were nothing scant. Doctors Commons, in London, a college
founded by Dr. Harvey, for the professors of the civil law, where the
civilians common together. The house was consumed in the great fire in
1666, but rebuilt in 1672. To this college belong thirty four proctors.
commons
n 1: a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area;
"they went for a walk in the park" [syn: park, commons,
common, green]
2: a pasture subject to common use [syn: commons, common
land}]
3: a class composed of persons lacking clerical or noble rank
[syn: commonalty, commonality, commons]
4: the common people [syn: third estate, Commons]
commons n.pl. 1 (the Commons) = House of Commons. 2 a the common people. b (prec. by the) the common people regarded as a part of a political, esp. British, system. 3 provisions shared in
common; daily fare. Phrases and idioms: short commons insufficient food. Etymology: ME pl. of COMMON
commons
ˈkɔmənz n.pl. 1 (the Commons) = House of Commons. 2 a the common
people. b (prec. by the) the common people regarded as a part of a political,
esp. British, system. 3 provisions shared in common; daily fare. øshort
commons insufficient food. [ME pl. of COMMON]
Commons \Com"mons\, n. pl.,
1. The mass of the people, as distinguished from the titled
classes or nobility; the commonalty; the common people.
[Eng.]
'T is like the commons, rude unpolished hinds, Could
send such message to their sovereign. --Shak.
The word commons in its present ordinary
signification comprises all the people who are under
the rank of peers. --Blackstone.
2. The House of Commons, or lower house of the British
Parliament, consisting of representatives elected by the
qualified voters of counties, boroughs, and universities.
It is agreed that the Commons were no part of the
great council till some ages after the Conquest.
--Hume.
3. Provisions; food; fare, -- as that provided at a common
table in colleges and universities.
Their commons, though but coarse, were nothing
scant. --Dryden.
4. A club or association for boarding at a common table, as
in a college, the members sharing the expenses equally;
as, to board in commons.
5. A common; public pasture ground.
To shake his ears, and graze in commons. --Shak.
Doctors' Commons, a place near St. Paul's Churchyard in
London where the doctors of civil law used to common
together, and where were the ecclesiastical and admiralty
courts and offices having jurisdiction of marriage
licenses, divorces, registration of wills, etc.
To be on short commons, to have a small allowance of food.
[Colloq.]
commons
n.pl.1. Commonalty, the common people, untitled class, commoners.
2. Lower house of Parliament, House of Commons.
3. Common-table meals served in common (esp. at colleges).
4. Provisions, food, fare.
63 Moby Thesaurus words for "commons":
C ration, K ration, allotment, allowance, board, bourgeoisie,
cafeteria, common, common people, common run, common sort,
commonage, commonality, commonalty, commoners, dinette, dining car,
dining hall, dining room, dining saloon, emergency rations,
field rations, laborers, linendrapers, lower classes,
lower middle class, lower orders, lumpen proletariat, meals, mess,
mess hall, messroom, middle class, middle orders, ordinary people,
paradise, park, peasantry, plain folks, plain people, pleasance,
pleasure garden, pleasure ground, proletariat, public park,
rank and file, rations, refectory, restaurant, salle a manger,
shopkeepers, short commons, small tradesmen, the lower cut,
the other half, the third estate, toilers, toiling class, tucker,
upper middle class, vulgus, working class, working people
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