Etymograph

English

common

Common comes from Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Latin commūnis ‘common, public’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to exchange, change’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘to exchange, change’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱom-moy-ni-s1‘held in common’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kommoinis1‘common’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcomoinis1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūnis1‘common, public, general’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400comun1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comun1‘common’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1526common1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English common
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, English common‘to exchange, change’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱom-moy-ni-sWiktionary, English common‘held in common’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kommoinisWiktionary, English common‘common’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcomoinisWiktionary, English common
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūnisWiktionary, English common‘common, public, general’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400comunWiktionary, English common
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comunWiktionary, English common‘common’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1526commonWiktionary, English common. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with common, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’

  • mean ← menen ← mǣnan ← *mainijan ← *mainijaną
  • met ← meten ← mætan ← *maitijan ← *maitaną
  • minister ← ministre ← ministre ← minor ← *minōs
  • minute ← mynute ← minūtus ← minuō ← *minuō
  • ministry ← mynisterie ← menistere ← ministerium ← minister
  • minor ← *minōs ← *minuō ← *minéwti
  • mess ← mes ← mēse ← mē(n)sa ← mittō
  • meal ← mole ← māl ← *mailą
  • min ← *minni ← *minniz
  • menu ← minūtus ← minuō ← *minuō
  • mutual ← mutuel ← mūtuus ← mūt(ō)
  • commission ← commissioun ← commissiō ← committō ← mittō

132 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Mutual; shared by more than one.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “common”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / common