commonwealth English · revision 5854

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1470}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɒm.ən.welθ/, US /ˈkɑː.mən.welθ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English commoun welthe, written separately at first, [[af|en|common|wealth]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) wealth here having its old sense of well-being.^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Public welfare, the general good: about 1470 in the OED, now obsolete;^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline has a community or the whole body of people in a state from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hoad notes that ''common weal'' and ''common wealth'' were at first used for both public welfare and the body politic, and that in the 16th century commonwealth became the usual English term for the latter,^(Hoad 1986) from 1513 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Any body of persons united by a common interest is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A state governed by the people, a republic, is from the 1610s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) which led to its use for the government of England from 1649 to 1660 under Cromwell.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) In the United States it is part of the official name of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia and Kentucky;^(Etymonline)^(AHD) Pennsylvania's choice in 1776 reflected radical Whig principles.^(Etymonline) The federated states of Australia took the title in 1891,^(OED 1989) and the association of Britain with its self-governing former colonies is from 1884 in the OED, 1917 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A company of actors sharing the receipts instead of drawing wages was a commonwealth from 1824.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1470 – public welfare.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1513 – the body politic.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – a body with a common interest.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – a republic.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1649 – the English Commonwealth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1891 – the Commonwealth of Australia.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1917 – self-governing former British colonies.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The people of a nation or [[state]]; the body politic.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A nation governed by its people; a [[republic]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Commonwealth)'' The official title of certain US states, such as [[Kentucky]] and [[Massachusetts]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(the Commonwealth)'' The association of [[sovereign]] states that were mostly once dependencies of the United Kingdom.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(history)'' The republican government of England from 1649 to 1660.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A group of people or states united by a common interest.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[commonweal]]

+ * [[common]]

+ * [[wealth]]

+ * [[weal]]

+ * [[well]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}