commonalty

Noun

commonalty (countable and uncountable, plural commonalties)

1. The common people; the commonality.
   • The people were averse to him, as the supposed author of the violence on the monasteries; establishments which were still revered and beloved by the commonalty.1759, David Hume, “[Henry VIII.] Chapter XXXII.”, in The History of England, under the House of Tudor. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 239
   • In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 5
2. A group of things having similar characteristics.
3. A class composed of persons lacking clerical or noble rank; commoners.
   • […] and all the people wholly for this gentleness, first the estates both high and low, and after the commonalty cried at once: Sir Launcelot hath won the field whosoever say nay.1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum 35”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book 1, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer...
   • Second Citizen: Would you proceed especially against Caius Marcius?
     First Citizen: Against him first: he's a very dog to the commonalty.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
4. The state or quality of having things in common.
   • Or is there some way in which the product of that solitude—writing—may none the less be profoundly social, rejoining the commonalty of society, and through its indirections and specificities being the most authentic contribution the writer can offer?1988, Nadine Gordimer, The Essential Gesture: Writing, Politics and Places, New York: Knopf, page 8
   • Some individuals fight the expectation that they ought to be part of any such "we," while others eagerly seek a sense of commonalty.2000, Stephen O. Murray, Homosexualities, University of Chicago Press, Part 3, Chapter 9, p. 382
5. A shared feature.
   • Observant visitors to any prison will quickly recognize commonalties in its inmate population. Not only do shared traits exist among the inmate population of any particular institution (intra-prison commonalties) but commonalties also exist among inmates nationwide (inter-prison commonalties).2007, Curt R. Blakely, chapter 2, in Prisons, Penology and Penal Reform: An Introduction to Institutional Specialization, New York: Peter Lang, page 29