Etymologically
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communal

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /kəˈmjuː.nəl/, /ˈkɒm.jə.nəl/[1]
  • US: /kəˈmju.nəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French communal,[2][3][4][5] from Old French comunal, recorded from about 1100 in the senses "common" and "unanimous",[6][2][4] from Late Latin commūnālis,[3][2][4][7] from Latin commūnis (“common”);[3][4] Etymonline and Klein put commūna (“commune”) between the two Latin words.[2][7] According to the OED, the word first came into English in the 15th century from Anglo-Norman, Middle French and Latin, and in later use it was probably also formed in English from commune and -al;[6] Etymonline calls the modern word a revival of the obsolete Middle English adjective.[2] It has cognates in Italian comunale, Spanish comunal and Portuguese comunal.[6] It is related to common and community.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Common or unanimous, of consent: before 1470, in Malory's Morte Darthur, where knights promise something "by their comunal assent".[8][6] This use is recorded only in the late 15th century.[9]

Semantic evolution

After the Middle English use died out, the word was taken again from French around 1800, at first for things belonging to a French commune: the OED dates this to 1796, Merriam-Webster to 1800 and Etymonline to 1802.[6][4][2] After 1871 it was also used of the Paris Commune, a use now historical.[6][9] The sense "shared by the whole community or a group, owned in common" followed in 1843.[6][2] From 1851 it also meant relating to one particular community, and chiefly in South Asian English it is used of conflict between religious or ethnic communities.[6][10] Merriam-Webster also records a sense in folklore studies: produced by a simple community as a whole, as the ballad is said to be.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1470 – common, unanimous (obsolete).[6][8]
  • 1796 – of or belonging to a commune.[6]
  • 1800 – first known use in Merriam-Webster.[4]
  • 1843 – shared by a whole community; owned in common.[6][2]
  • 1851 – relating to a particular community.[6]
  • 1871 – relating to the Paris Commune.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Shared by or belonging to a whole community or group; owned in common: a communal kitchen.[10][4][6][11]
  2. Relating to a commune, either a local district or a group of people living together and sharing property.[10][4][6][11]
  3. Marked by collective ownership and control of goods and property.[11][4]
  4. Relating to the different ethnic or religious communities within a society, especially to conflict between them: communal clashes.[10][6]
  5. (historical) Relating to the Paris Commune of 1871.[6][9]
  6. (obsolete, 1470) Common or unanimous.[6][8][9]

Word family

  • communality
  • communally
  • uncommunal
  • intercommunal
  • noncommunal
  • communalism
  • communalize

Usage notes

The stress has varied between the first and second syllable since at least the mid-19th century, and British and American dictionaries disagree over which is the main pronunciation.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin