communalis

Forms

commūnālis (neuter commūnāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin commūnis (“common”) + -ālis.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The land surveyor Agennius Urbicus is the first to use it: land in Etruria that was not given to veterans, he writes, is called communalia, common land.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Roman surveyors it describes common land.^[2][4] In early medieval charters it means land held jointly or belonging to the neighbours of a place, as in Catalonia in 1010,^[5][6] then dues owed by a village as a whole and, with the rise of the communes, what belonged to a town commune, such as its seal.^[5][7][8] Used as a noun it meant a citizen of a commune,^[8][9] and the feminine plural communalia the commons.^[5] English took communal from French in 1802.^[10]

Timeline

• 1010 – A Catalan charter uses it for a vineyard held in common by the neighbours.^[6]
• 1191 – A charter is confirmed with a city's common seal.^[7]
• 1214 – It is recorded as a noun for a citizen of a commune.^[9]
• 1802 – English borrows communal from French.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of property) common, belonging to the community.^[2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Held jointly by several people.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Owed by the inhabitants of a village as a whole.^[5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Belonging to a commune or corporate body.^[5][7][8]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A citizen of a commune.^[8][9]
2. (Medieval Latin, feminine plural communalia) The commons, common land.^[5]

Related words

• English communal

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
7. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com