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common

/ˈkɑmən/
adjectivenoun

COMMON means shared or mutual; it scores 12 points in Scrabble and has no anagrams.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Adjective 4 meanings

  1. Mutual; shared by more than one.

    “The two competitors have the common aim of winning the championship.”

  2. Existing among virtually all people; universal.

    “common knowledge, common decency, common sense”

  3. Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

    “It is common to find sharks off this coast.”

  4. Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.

    “"Commoner" used to be commoner, but "more common" is now more common.”

Noun 4 meanings

  1. Mutual good, shared by more than one.

  2. A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

  3. The people; the community.

  4. The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

Etymology

From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gamainī (“common”) in Old French), from Latin commūnis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s (“held in common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange, change”).

Similar and opposite words

The word COMMON works as an adjective for something shared by more than one person, and as a noun for a community or land held in common. Its frequency record lists rank 600 and 36,698 occurrences. For word-game play, the more surprising details are its empty anagram set and its two one-letter neighbours.

COMMON meaning, score, and word patterns

  • COMMON means mutual or shared; as a noun, it can mean a community or common land.
  • The word scores 12 Scrabble points before any board bonuses.
  • No anagrams are recorded for the letters C, M, M, N, O, O.
  • COMMOS and COMMOT are the two one-letter neighbours.
  • Twelve rhyming words share the final sound pattern, including LEMON, DEMON, and SERMON.

What does COMMON mean?

COMMON describes something mutual or shared by more than one person. As a noun, it can refer to a tract of land held in common or to the people of a community. The word therefore shifts from a quality of shared ownership to the group or place connected with it.

The repeated M and O do not produce any recorded anagrams: the six letters have no alternate arrangement in the anagram results. There are two one-letter neighbours, COMMOS and COMMOT, each differing from COMMON only at the final letter. Those forms are less familiar than the headword, so check your game's word list before playing them.

The rhyme results include LEMON, DEMON, SALMON, SERMON, and SUMMON. Their shared ending makes the sound connection easy to spot, although several use different spellings for that final sound.

How does COMMON score 12 Scrabble points?

COMMON scores 12 points from its tiles: C is worth 3, each M is worth 3, and both O tiles and N are worth 1. The two M tiles supply half the total, so the doubled letter is doing more scoring work than either vowel.

That 12-point total is the face value, before letter or word premiums on the board. The word is familiar, but its close neighbours are not equally familiar; knowing COMMON itself does not guarantee that COMMOS or COMMOT will be accepted in your game.

Rhymes with common

All rhymes

One letter away

Change one letter, keep the rest
  • COMMOS12
  • COMMOT12

Questions people ask

What does common mean?
COMMON means mutual or shared by more than one person. As a noun, it can mean land held in common or the people of a community. The word can describe shared ownership, a shared quality, or the group associated with a place.
How many points is COMMON in Scrabble?
COMMON is worth 12 points in Scrabble before board bonuses. Its C and two M tiles contribute 3 points each, while the two O tiles and N contribute 1 point each. A premium square can change the played score.
Does COMMON have any anagrams or one-letter neighbours?
No anagrams are recorded for COMMON, and its two one-letter neighbours are COMMOS and COMMOT. Both change only the final letter. They are less familiar forms, so confirm that your game's word list accepts them before using either one.

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