commun French · revision 15988

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Strasbourg Oaths|origins=la mūnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ.mœ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''commun''' (feminine commune, masculine plural communs, feminine plural communes)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|comun]], feminine ''comune'' from the first texts.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|comun]], [[inh|la|commūnis|t=shared by all or many]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 961a) formed from “cum” “with” and “-munis” “who performs his duty”, related to [[la|mūnus|t=duty; gift]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The root “*mei-” “to exchange” appears in Indo-European words for regulated exchange, often legal (see [[muer]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In Late Latin “communis” also meant “mediocre, vulgar”, and in Christian writers “impure”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|comune]], [[pro|comun]], [[ca|comú]], [[es|común]] and [[pt|comum]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) [[en|common]] is from the Anglo-Norman word, which the Normans took to England with its feudal sense of what belongs to a community.^(DHLF 1992)^(AND)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have ''pro Deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun salvament'', for our common salvation.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense, “of all or most people”, survives in ''droit commun'' (Beaumanoir, 1283), ''sens commun'' (1690) and ''le commun des mortels'' (''le comun des janz'', Chrétien de Troyes, 1172–1174).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From about 1160 it also meant “ordinary”, and as a noun “the common people” (''homme du commun'', Corneille, 1636), with a pejorative colour that also tinges ''commun'' “widespread” (13th century) and ''communément''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The collective sense, “done together, shared by all members of a group”, appears in ''Saint Alexis'' (''commune oraison'', about 1050), with ''en commun'' (early 12th century), ''vie commune'' and ''d'un commun accord'' (1248).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It was specialised in grammar (''noms communs'', 14th century) and mathematics (''dénominateur commun'', 16th century); Montaigne's ''lieux communs'' (1595) were passages applicable to general subjects, later commonplaces (1718).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Les communs'', the outbuildings of a château, date from 1704.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Commun'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Commune oraison'' in ''Saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – “Ordinary”, ''la gent comune''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1248 – ''Kemun assentement''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1283 – ''Droit commun'' in Beaumanoir.^(TLFi)

+ * 1595 – ''Lieux communs'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Sens commun''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1704 – ''Les communs''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|common|alt=Common]], shared: ''un but commun'', ''salle commune'', ''en commun'': together, ''d'un commun accord''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # General, of all: ''le bien commun'', ''le sens commun'', ''droit commun''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Usual, widespread: ''une plante commune'', ''nom commun''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(pejorative)'' Ordinary, vulgar: ''des manières communes''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''N'avoir rien de commun avec'': to have nothing in common with, ''sans commune mesure'': beyond comparison.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le commun'': the generality, most people: ''le commun des mortels'', ''hors du commun'': exceptional.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(plural)'' Outbuildings, offices (of a large house).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[communal]]

+ * [[communauté]]

+ * [[communément]]

+ * [[communisme]]

+ * [[communiste]]

+ * [[communément]]

+ * [[commune]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[muer]]

+ * [[la|commūnis]]

+ * [[en|common]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}