English
commonly
Commonly comes from Middle English comunly, equivalent to common + -ly.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English commonly
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I: “As he thereon stood gazing, he might see /…”.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comunlyWiktionary, English commonly‘commonly’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590commonlyWiktionary, English commonly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I: “As he thereon stood gazing, he might see /…”
Formed from common + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to exchange, change’
…
Old Latin comoinis
Latin commūnis ‘common, public, general’
Anglo-Norman comun
Middle English comun ‘common’
English common
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to exchange, change’
mean, met, minister, minute, ministry, minor, mess, meal, min, commission, menu, mutual, missile, mere, minus, immune, dismiss, compromise, premise, immunity, commit, municipality, ammunition, mural, mayhem, mole, noodle, intermittent, remuneration, moor, mite, ammo, omit, minstrel, mitra, mitre, mitosis, meiosis, monolith, missive, 67 more
through Proto-Italic *kommoinis
telecommunication, excommunication, communistic, 13 more
through Latin commūnis ‘common, general’
community, communication, communist, communicate, communism, communal, communion, commune, communiqué, 16 more
Today it means
adv As a rule; frequently; usually.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “commonly”. 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 / Middle English comunly / commonly