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PlainSpell

communal

/kəˈmju.nəl/adjective

communal is spelled C-O-M-M-U-N-A-L: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, communal means “Pertaining to a community or a commune” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in communal?

Letters8: C-O-M-M-U-N-A-L
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.8 times per million words; the 11,541st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is communal?

Communal appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st 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 communal?

  • UK /kəˈmjuː.nəl/
  • UK /ˈkɒm.jə.nəl/
  • US /kəˈmju.nəl/

Communal has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-communal.ogg, En-ca-communal.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with communal?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as communal from its last stressed vowel (/unəl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of communal

  • more communal comparative
  • most communal superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does communal mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Pertaining to a community or a commune.

  2. 2

    Shared by a community; public.

  3. 3

    IndiaDefined by religious ideas; based on religion.

    communal violence

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Communal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcommunautaire (pertaining to a community), commun (shared by a community; public)
Germangemeinschaftlich, kommunal (pertaining to a community)
Portuguesecomunitário (pertaining to a community), comum, público (shared by a community; public)
Spanishcomunitario (pertaining to a community)

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.

Where does communal come from?

Borrowed from French communal, from Late Latin commūnālis, from Latin commūnis. Doublet of cominal.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after communal