adjectivethird-declension two-termination adjective
commūnis
commūnis (neuter commūne, comparative commūnior, adverb commūniter)
Classical[kɔmˈmuː.nɪs]Ecclesiastical[komˈmuː.nis]
№ 660 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- two terminationcommon, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together
“[...] Troiae et patriae commūnis Erīnys,
“[Helen,] the common Fury of Troy and of her homeland, had hidden herself and was cowering unseen beside the altars.” (See: Erinys.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.573–574 - two terminationof or for the community, public
- two terminationdemocratic; representing the common sentiment
- two terminationfamiliar, accessible, courteous
- two terminationhaving 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.
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quod omnium est; pila commūnis omnibus.commūnis -e — in Mille Verba, ch. Lūdī Puerōrum
omnium, nōn ūnīuscommūnis -e — in IVLIANVS I: Gallia, ch. 13
pollūtus, nōn pūruscommūnis -e — in Evangelium secundum Marcum, ch. 12
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | commūnis | commūnis | commūne |
| genitive | commūnis | commūnis | commūnis |
| dative | commūnī | commūnī | commūnī |
| accusative | commūnem | commūnem | commūne |
| ablative | commūnī | commūnī | commūnī |
| vocative | commūnis | commūnis | commūne |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | commūnēs | commūnēs | commūnia |
| genitive | commūnium | commūnium | commūnium |
| dative | commūnibus | commūnibus | commūnibus |
| accusative | commūnīs commūnēs | commūnīs commūnēs | commūnia |
| ablative | commūnibus | commūnibus | commūnibus |
| vocative | commūnēs | commūnēs | commūnia |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- communis sermonis consuetudo
- the ordinary usage of language, everyday speech.
- multum communi hominum opinioni tribuere
- to be always considering what people think.
- multum (nihil) ad communem utilitatem afferre
- to considerably (in no way) further the common good.
- usu rerum (vitae, vitae communis) edocti sumus
- we know from experience.
- uno, communi, summo or omnium consensu (Tusc. 1. 15. 35)
- unanimously.
- ad intellegentiam communem or popularem accommodare aliquid
- to accommodate something to the standard of the popular intelligence.
- ad vulgarem sensum or ad communem opinionem orationem accommodare (Off. 2. 10. 35)
- to express oneself in popular language.
com-mūnis (comoinis, S. C. de Bacch.), e, adj. con and root mu-, to bind; Sanscr. mav-; cf.: immunis, munus, moenia,
I. that is common to several or to all, common, general, universal, public (opp. proprius, that belongs to one:
quod commune cum alio est, desinet esse proprium, Quint. 7, 3, 24; cf. id. 2, 4, 40; 7, 1, 28; 8, 5, 6; 10, 1, 16; 12, 10, 42; 12, 3, 7; v. also the foll.; freq. in all periods and every species of composition); constr. with cum, dat., inter se, or absol. I. Prop.:
vetus verbum hoc quidem est: Communia esse amicorum inter se omnia, Ter. Ad. 5, 3, 18: vinea vulpibus et hominibus, Varr. R. R. 1, 8, 5: sepulcrum Asiae Europaeque Troja, Cat. 68, 89: is fit ei cum Roscio communis, Cic. Rosc. Com. 10, 27; cf.: alterum nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis commune est, Sall. C. 1, 2; Nep. Timol. 1, 4.—Esp. freq. in the formula aliquid cum aliquo commune habere: vetustas habet aliquid commune cum multis, amor non habet, Cic. Fam. 11, 27, 2: cum rerum naturā... quid habere potest commune... gallinaceum fel, id. Div. 2, 12, 29: controversia. quae communes minime cum aliis quaestiones habet, Quint. 5, 10, 110: illum... nihil vobiscum commune habentem, Sen. Const. 15, 2: sciat, se nihil mecum habere commune, id. Ben. 7, 12, 2: omnia cum amico communia habebit, qui multa cum homine, id. Ep. 48, 3; 74, 17; id. Q. N. 2, 37, 2: nec habet (pecudum natura) quidquam commune cum caelo, Lact. de Ira Dei, 7, 4; 8, 3; App. de Deo Socr. 13; Varr. R. R. 3, 2, 9; Sen. Contr. 1, 1, 25, B: vitium commune omnium est, Ter. Ad. 5, 8, 30; cf. Cic. Sen. 11, 35; Lucr. 5, 260; 3, 326; 5, 555: communis imperii (i. e. Romani) fines, Cic. Balb. 5, 13; cf. libertas, id. Sest. 1, 1: salus, id. ib. 6, 15: utilitas, Nep. Alcib. 4, 6: mors, natural, Eutr. 7, 8: verba, i. e. prose, Claud. Epig. 81, 3: jus gentium, Nep. Them. 7, 4 et saep.: vitae ignarus, ignorant of life, i. e. of the customs of society, Cic. Phil. 2, 4, 7; cf.: sensu caret, of a sense of propriety, Hor. S. 1, 3, 66 Heind.; cf.: sit in beneficio sensus communis, Sen. Ben. 1, 12, 3; id. Ep. 5, 4; 105, 3; Quint. 1, 2, 20; cf. also: communium litterarum et politioris humanitatis expers, Cic. de Or. 2, 17, 72: communis locus, euphem., the lower world, Plaut. Cas. prol. 19; and for a brothel, Sen. Contr. 1, 2, p. 83 Bip.—In plur.: loca, public places, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 46, § 112; id. Fam. 13, 11, 1; but loci, in philos. lang., a commonplace, common topic, id. de Or. 3, 27, 106; id. Or. 36, 126; Quint. 2, 1, 9; 2, 1, 11; 5, 1, 3; 5, 12, 15; v. locus.—B. Subst.: commūne, is, n., that which is common.
1. In gen., plur.:
ut communibus pro communibus utatur, privatis ut suis, Cic. Off. 1, 7, 20: paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas, publicity, Hor. Ep. 1, 20, 4; Ov. M. 13, 271.—In sing.: de communi aliquid consequi, Dig. 17, 2, 52; so Paul. Sent. 1, 18, § 3: jus communi dividundo, Cic. Fam. 7, 12, 2; cf. Gai Inst. 4, 42; Dig. 2, 1, 11, § 2 al.—2. Esp. = τὸ κοινόν, a community, state: commune Latium, Cinc. ap. Fest. p. 241, 18 Müll.:
Commune Milyadum, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 38, § 95: Siciliae, id. ib. 2, 2, 46, § 114; 2, 2, 59, § 145; 2, 2, 63, § 154: gentis Pelasgae, Ov. M. 12, 7; cf.: communis Graecia, id. ib. 13, 199; and: res communis = respublica, Sisenn. ap. Non. p. 522, 17.—b. In commune.
(a). For common use, for all, for a common object, end, advantage, etc.:
metuere, Plaut. As. 2, 2, 20: consulere, Ter. And. 3, 3, 16; Tac. A. 12, 5: conferre, Cic. Quint. 3, 12; id. Inv. 2, 3, 8: vocare honores, i. e. to bestow equally upon patricians and plebeians, Liv. 6, 40, 18: profutura, Quint. 6, 1, 7: laborare (apes), id. 5, 11, 24.—Rarely in communi: ponere libertatem, Tac. A. 13, 27.—(b). In general, generally (in post-Aug. prose):
de jure omni disputandum, Quint. 7, 1, 49; Plin. 17, 1, 1, § 9; Tac. G. 27; 38; 40 al.—II. Trop.
A. That represents the common sentiment, democratic:
qui in bello... suo et certorum hominum consilio uteretur, eum magis communem censemus in victoriā futurum fuisse, etc., Cic. Fam. 4, 9, 2.—B. Of manners, accessible, familiar, courteous, condescending, affable (kindr. in sense with comis; hence in MSS. very freq. interchanged with it;
v. comis): simplicem et communem et consentientem eligi (amicum) par est, Cic. Lael. 18, 65; so id. Fam. 4, 9, 2: communis infimis, par principibus, Nep. Att. 3, 1; so Eutr. 8, 5; cf. communitas.—Comp., Suet. Claud. 21 dub. (al. comior).—Sup., Suet. Vesp. 22 dub. (al. comissimus).— C. T. t.
1. In rhet.:
commune exordium, quod nihilo minus in hanc quam in contrariam partem causae potest convenire, equally appropriate to either side of a cause, Cic. Inv. 1, 18, 26; cf. Quint. 4, 1, 71; Auct. Her. 1, 7, 11; Cic. de Or. 2, 78, 319.—2. In gram.: verbum, a common verb, i. e. one that has both an active and passive signification, Gell. 15, 13, 1; Prisc. p. 787 P.: syllaba = anceps, i. e. either long or short, Don. p. 1389 P.; Charis. p. 3 ib.; Diom. p. 423 ib.:
genus, of both masculine and feminine gender, Charis. p. 126 ib. et saep.— Hence, Advv. 1. Class. form commū-nĭter, together, in common, jointly, generally (very freq.), Varr. R. R. 2, 10; Cic. Off. 3, 20, 80; id. Rosc. Am. 37, 108; id. N. D. 2, 48, 123; Nep. Pelop. 2, 2; Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 13; Ov. M. 6, 262.—Opp. proprie, Quint. 9, 1, 23;
opp. separatim, Cic. Fam. 13, 12, 1; cf. id. Arch. 12, 32.—* Comp., Diom. p. 480 P.—2. commūnĭtus: deos colere, Varr. ap. Non. p. 510, 5.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
commūnis (conm-) e, adj. with comp.
MV-, common, general, universal, public: omnia inter eos: communīs natos habent, offspring in common, V.: unum et commune periclum Ambobus erit, V.: paries domui communis utrique, O.: alterun nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis, S.: quid est tam commune quam spiritus vivis?: pernicies adulescentium, T: vitium non proprium senectutis, sed commune valetudinis: utriusque populi finis, S.: Graeciae causa, of Greece as a whole, O.: omnium gentium bellum: ius gentium, N.: vita, the customs of society: communi sensu caret, a sense of propriety, H.: fama, rumor: proverbia, familiar: herbae, the common pasture, H.: loca, public places: loci, commonplaces, passages treating a general topic.—Fig., of manners, accessible, familiar, courteous, condescending, affable: Catone communior: communis infimis, par principibus, N. — In rhet.: exordium, equally appropriate to either side.
Origins
From Old Latin co(m)moinis, from Proto-Italic *kommoinis, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom-moy-ni-s, from *mey- (“to change”). By surface analysis, com- + mūnis. Cognate with Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“shared, communal; common”), related to immūnis, mūnia, mūnis, mūnus (compare Proto-Italic *moinos (“service”)).
Italo-Dalmatian
- Italiancommune
- Italiancomune
- Siciliancummuni
- Siciliancumuni
- Venetancomùn
Gallo-Romance
- Catalancomú
- Occitancomun
- Old Frenchcomun
Ibero-Romance
- Portuguesecomum
- Spanishcomún
- Asturiancomuña
- Asturiancomún
- Galiciancomún
Rhaeto-Romance
- Friuliancomun
Gallo-Italic
- Piedmontesecomun