Meaning & use
commonality
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableformal
A feature or interest that two or more people or things share.
Grammar: Countable in the plural: they found several commonalities.
Patterns
- a commonality between things
- a commonality of something
The two cultures show an unexpected commonality in their folk tales.
We found a commonality in our love of hiking.
Teachers looked for commonalities among the students' answers.
noununcountableformal
The state of sharing something or being alike, often in matters of belief or identity.
Grammar: No plural when it means the general quality of sharing.
Patterns
- a sense of commonality
A sense of commonality helped the neighbors work together.
The shared meal built commonality among the guests.
There is little commonality between the two proposals.
Word forms
| plural | commonalities |
|---|
Common combinations
- find commonality
- Negotiators tried to find commonality.
- shared commonality
- They discovered a shared commonality.
- a sense of commonality
- A sense of commonality bound the team.
- commonality of interests
- A commonality of interests drew them together.
- little commonality
- There is little commonality between the groups.
Synonyms and how they differ
- similarity
- Similarity is a general likeness, while commonality focuses on what the things share.
- shared feature
- Shared feature is plainer and fits everyday writing better than commonality.
- overlap
- Overlap suggests partial sharing, such as areas of responsibility.
- affinity
- Affinity suggests a natural liking or connection between people, not just shared traits.
Opposites
Word family
- common adjective
- shared or widespread
- commonly adverb
- frequently
- commonness noun
- the quality of being common
- commoner noun
- an ordinary person without noble rank
Commonly confused: commonality or commonalty?
commonality vs commonalty
Commonalty is an old word for ordinary people as a class, unrelated to shared features.
Practice
The two authors wrote in different languages, but critics noticed a ___ in their themes.
Choose one answer.
A commonality is a shared feature. A commonwealth is a state or group of states, a commoner is a person, and commonly is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “commonality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.