COMMON NOUN Definition & Meaning

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common noun

noun

Grammar.

a noun that may be preceded by an article or other limiting modifier and that denotes any or all of a class of entities and not an individual, as man, city, horse, music.

common noun

noun

grammar a noun that refers to each member of a whole class sharing the features connoted by the noun, as for example planet, orange, and drum Compare proper noun

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of common noun¹

First recorded in 1860–65

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Compare Meanings

How does common noun compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Surprisingly, the team’s results suggest that at least 10 to 30 quantifiably different concept variants exist for even common nouns such as penguin.

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To some, lowercase-c “chautauqua” is a common noun, used as shorthand for an educational event composed of lectures, performances and/or concerts, and not tied to any particular geographic setting.

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It’s used as a common noun and can be pluralized or singular, for instance: “you should set a passkey for your banking app.”

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Not to mention that the common noun “objection” fails to qualify as a “name, phrase, title, etc.”

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Our current debates about our society's problems and prospects need to refocus beyond the different adjectives for a common noun they qualify.

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