commons
com·mons/ˈkɑmənz/noun, verb
commons is spelled C-O-M-M-O-N-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables (com·mons). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, commons means “A public area, especially a dining hall, at a college or university; a similar shared space elsewhere” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in commons?
| Letters | 7: C-O-M-M-O-N-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: com·mons |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is commons?
Commons appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce commons?
- US /ˈkɑmənz/
- UK /ˈkɒmənz/
Commons has 2 syllables, split com·mons in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-commons.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does commons mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A public area, especially a dining hall, at a college or university; a similar shared space elsewhere.
- 2
A common (common land); especially, a central section of (usually an older) town, designated as a shared area.
The Renaissance festival started with the "peasants" meeting in the commons.
- 3
The mutual good of all; the abstract concept of resources shared by more than one, for example air, water, information.
"The tragedy of the commons" is that none wish to make sacrifices of their or their family's interests for the common good.
- 4
The common people collectively, the third estate, the people not belonging to the nobility or clergy.
- 5
The free burghers/bourgeoisie of a given town, taken collectively.
- 6
obsoleteAn outhouse.
- 7
UKobsoleteFood served at a fixed rate from the college buttery, distinguished from battels.
At the same time, the fashion at Oxford of confining lunch to a "commons" of bread and butter and a glass of beer till the crew reaches Putney (when a little meat is allowed,) is unreasonable.
- 8
Food in general; rations.
short commons
- 9
plural of common
verb
- 1
third-person singular simple present indicative of common
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Commons in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.