Meanings
nouncommon noun (plural common nouns)
plural common nouns
- A noun that denotes any member, or all members, of a class; an ordinary noun; contrasted with a proper noun, which refers to a single named entity, such as Socrates or Tokyo.
The Butlers had been serving the Fowls for centuries. It had always been that way. Indeed, there were several eminent linguists of the opinion that this was how the common noun had originated.
2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 15Synonyms: appellative, appellative noun, nomen appellativum, common substantive noun
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA noun that denotes any member, or all members, of a class; an ordinary noun; contrasted with a proper noun, which refers to a single named entity, such as Socrates or Tokyo.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek προσηγορία
- προσηγορία (prosēgoría)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Arabic اِسْم الجِنْس
- اِسْم الجِنْس (ism al-jins)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Bulgarian нарица́телно и́ме, съществи́телно нарица́телно и́ме
- нарица́телно и́ме (naricátelno íme)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- съществи́телно нарица́телно и́ме (săštestvítelno naricátelno íme)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Chinese Mandarin 普通名詞 /普通名词
- 普通名詞 /普通名词 (pǔtōng míngcí)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Czech obecné jméno
- obecné jménonoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Danish appellativ, fællesnavn
- appellativnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- fællesnavnnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Dutch soortnaam
- soortnaamnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Esperanto komuna substantivo
- komuna substantivonoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Finnish yleisnimi, appellatiivi
- yleisniminoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- appellatiivinoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
French nom appellatif, nom commun
- nom appellatifnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- nom communnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
German Gattungsname, Gattungsbezeichnung
- Gattungsnamenoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- Gattungsbezeichnungnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- Appellativnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- Appellativumnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Greek κοινό ουσιαστικό
- κοινό ουσιαστικό (koinó ousiastikó)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Hungarian köznév
- köznévnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Icelandic samnafn
- samnafnnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Irish ainmfhocal coitianta
- ainmfhocal coitiantanoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Italian nome comune
- nome comunenoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Japanese 普通名詞, 一般名詞
- 普通名詞 (futsūmeishi)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- 一般名詞 (ippanmeishi)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Korean 보통명사
- 보통명사 (botongmyeongsa)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Latin nōmen appellātīvum
- nōmen appellātīvumnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Latvian sugas vārds
- sugas vārdsnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Malay kata nama am
- kata nama amnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Norwegian appellativ, fellesnavn
- appellativnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- fellesnavnnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- samnamnnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Polish rzeczownik pospolity, apelatiwum
- rzeczownik pospolitynoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- apelatiwumnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- appellativumnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- apelatywnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- nazwa pospolitanoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Portuguese substantivo comum
- substantivo comumnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Romanian substantiv comun
- substantiv comunnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Russian и́мя нарица́тельное, апелляти́в
- и́мя нарица́тельное (ímja naricátelʹnoje)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- апелляти́в (apelljatív)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Scottish Gaelic ainmear gnàthach
- ainmear gnàthachnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Slovak apelatívum, všeobecné meno
- apelatívumnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- všeobecné menonoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Spanish nombre común, sustantivo común
- nombre comúnnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
- sustantivo comúnnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Swedish appellativ
- appellativnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Tagalog pangngalang pambalana
- pangngalang pambalananoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Thai สามานยนาม
- สามานยนาม (sǎa-maan-yá-naam)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Turkish cins isim
- cins isimnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Ukrainian зага́льна на́зва
- зага́льна на́зва (zahálʹna názva)noun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Vietnamese danh từ chung
- danh từ chungnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Welsh enw cyffredin
- enw cyffredinnoun that denotes any member or all members of a class
Cite this entry
APA
common noun. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20noun
MLA
“common noun.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20noun. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “common noun,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20noun.
Source: common noun on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.