Online Etymology Dictionary

commonly: c.1300, "in a way common to all," also "common to all;" also "usually," from common (q.v.).
common law: c.1350, "the customary and unwritten laws of England as embodied in commentaries and old cases" (see common), as opposed to statute law. Phrase common law marriage is attested from 1909.
common good: late 14c., translating L. bonum publicum "the common weal."
common: c.1300, from O.Fr. comun, from L. communis "in common, public, general, shared by all or many," from PIE *ko-moin-i- "held in common," compound adjective formed from *ko- "together" + *moi-n-, suffixed form of base *mei- "change, exchange" (see mutable), hence lit. "shared by all." Second element of the compound also is the source of L. munia "duties, public duties, functions," those related to munia "office." Perhaps reinforced in O.Fr. by Frank. descendant of P.Gmc. *gamainiz (cf. O.E. gemæne "common, public, general, universal"), from the P.Gmc. form of PIE *ko-moin-i- (see mean (adj.)). Used disparagingly of women and criminals since c.1300. Common pleas is 13c., from Anglo-Fr. communs plets, hearing civil actions by one subject against another as opposed to pleas of the crown. Common prayer is contrasted with private prayer. Common stock is attested from 1888.
commonality: late 14c., "a community," from common (q.v.), as if from L. *communalitas. A respelling of commonalty (late 13c.). Meaning "the common people" is attested from 1580s; that of "state or quality of being shared" is from 1954.
commons: "the third estate of the English people as represented in Parliament," late 14c., from common.
commonsensical: 1860, from common sense, with ending as in nonsensical, etc.
commoner: early 14c. (in commoners), from common (q.v.).
commonwealth: 1470, "public welfare, general good" (from common + wealth); meaning "the state" is attested from 1513; applied specifically to the government of England in the period 1649-1660.
common sense: 14c., originally the power of uniting mentally the impressions conveyed by the five physical senses, thus "ordinary understanding, without which one is foolish or insane" (L. sensus communis, Gk. koine aisthesis); meaning "good sense" is from 1726. Also, as an adj., commonsense.
koine: 1913, common literary dialect of Gk. in Roman and early medieval period, from Gk. fem. sing. of koinos "common, ordinary."
Vulgate: 1609, Latin translation of the Bible, especially that completed in 405 by St. Jerome (c.340-420), from M.L. Vulgata, from L.L. vulgata "common, general, ordinary, popular" (in vulgata editio "popular edition"), from L. vulgata, fem. pp. of vulgare "make common or public," from vulgus "the common people" (see vulgar). So called because the translations made the book accessible to the common people of ancient Rome.
divulge: 1460, from L. divulgare "publish, make common," from dis- "apart" + vulgare "make common property," from vulgus "common people."
vulgar: 1391, "common, ordinary," from L. vulgaris "of or pertaining to the common people, common, vulgar," from vulgus "the common people, multitude, crowd, throng," from PIE base *wel- "to crowd, throng" (cf. Skt. vargah "division, group," Gk. eilein "to press, throng," M.Bret. gwal'ch "abundance," Welsh gwala "sufficiency, enough"). Meaning "coarse, low, ill-bred" is first recorded 1643, probably from earlier use (with reference to people) with meaning "belonging to the ordinary class" (1530). Vulgarian "rich person of vulgar manners" is recorded from 1804.
commune (v.): c.1300, from O.Fr. comuner "to make common, share," from comun (see common).
mean (adj.): "low-quality," O.E. gemæne "common, public, general, universal, shared by all," from P.Gmc. *ga-mainiz "possessed jointly" (cf. O.Fris. mene, M.L.G. gemeine, Du. gemeen, Ger. gemein, Goth. gamains "common"), from PIE *ko-moin-i- "held in common," a compound adjective formed from collective prefix *ko- "together" (P.Gmc. *ga-) + *moi-n-, suffixed form of PIE base *mei- "to change, exchange" (see mutable); cf. second element in common, a word whose sense evolution parallels that of mean (adj.). Sense influenced by mean (n.). Meaning "inferior, poor" emerged c.1300; that of "stingy, nasty" first recorded 1665; weaker sense of "disobliging, pettily offensive" is from 1839, originally Amer.Eng. slang. Inverted sense of "remarkably good" (i.e. plays a mean saxophone) first recorded c.1900, also in phrase no mean _______ "not inferior" (1596, also, "not average," reflecting further confusion with mean (n.)). Meanie "cruel person" is from 1927.
epicene: mid-15c., originally a grammatical term for nouns that may denote either gender, from L. epicoenus "common," from Gk. epikoinos, from epi- "on" + koinos "common." Extended sense of "characteristic of both sexes" first recorded in English c.1600; that of "effeminate" 1630s.
community: late 14c., from O.Fr. communité, from L. communitatem (nom. communitas) "community, fellowship," from communis "common, public, general, shared by all or many," (see common). L. communitatem "was merely a noun of quality ... meaning 'fellowship, community of relations or feelings,' but in med.L. it was, like universitas, used concretely in the sense of 'a body of fellows or fellow-townsmen' " [OED]. An O.E. word for "community" was gemænscipe "community, fellowship, union, common ownership," probably composed from the same PIE roots as communis. Community service as a criminal sentence is recorded from 1972, Amer.Eng. Community college is recorded from 1959.
horseradish: 1597, Cochlearia armoricia, the common name preserves the once-common figurative sense of horse as "strong, large, coarse" (e.g. in obs. horse mushroom, horse parsley, etc.).
communication: late 14c., from O.Fr. communicacion, from L. communicationem (nom. communicatio), from communicare "to share, divide out; impart, inform; join, unite, participate in," lit. "to make common," from communis (see common).
gumption: 1719, Scottish, "common sense, shrewdness," also "drive, initiative," possibly connected with M.E. gome "attention, heed," from O.N. gaumr "heed." Originally "common sense, shrewdness," sense of "initiative" is first recorded 1812.
communicable: late 14c., from Fr. communicable, from L. *communicabilis, from communicare "to share, divide out; impart, inform; join, unite, participate in," lit. "to make common," from communis (see common).
excommunication: 1494, from L.L. excommunicatus, pp. of excommunicare, in Church L. "to expel from communion," lit. "put out of the community," from ex- "out" + communis "common" (see common).
plebian: 1533 (n.), 1566 (adj.), from L. plebius "of the common people," from plebes "the common people" (as opposed to patricians, etc.), perhaps from PIE base *ple- "to be full" (see plenary). Slang shortening pleb is attested from 1865 (see plebe).
furlong: O.E. furlang "measure of distance" (roughly 220 yards), originally the length of a furrow in the common field of 10 acres, from furh "furrow" + lang "long." But the "acre" of the common field being variously measured, the furlong was fixed 9c. on the stadium, one-eighth of a Roman mile.
demotic: 1822, from Gk. demotikos "of or for the common people," from demos "common people," originally "district," from PIE *da-mo- "division," from base *da- "to divide" (see tide). In contrast to hieratic. Originally of the simpler of two forms of ancient Egyptian writing; broader sense is from 1831; used of Greek since 1927.
wright: O.E. wryhta "worker," variant of earlier wyhrta, from wyrcan "to work" (see work). Now usually in combinations (wheelwright, playwright, etc.) or as a common surname. Common W.Gmc.; cf. O.S. wurhito, O.Fris. wrichta, O.H.G. wurhto.
for: O.E. for "for, before, on account of," from P.Gmc. *fura (cf. O.S. furi, Du. voor "for, before;" Ger. für "for;" Dan. for "for," før "before;" Goth. faur "for," faura "before"); see fore. A common prefix in O.E., where it could be intensive, destructive, or perfective. Its use alone as a conjunction (not found before 12c.) is probably a shortening of common O.E. phrases such as for þon þy "therefore."
Jesus: c.1175 (O.E. simply used hælend "savior"), from Gk. Iesous, attempt to render Aramaic proper name Jeshua (Heb. Yeshua) "Jah is salvation," a common Jewish personal name, the later form of Heb. Yehoshua (see Joshua). As an oath, attested from late 14c. For Jesus H. Christ (1924), see I.H.S. First record of Jesus freak is from 1970. Jesu, common in M.E., is from the O.Fr. objective case.
believe: O.E. belyfan "to believe," earlier geleafa (Mercian), gelefa (Northumbrian), gelyfan (W.Saxon) "believe," from P.Gmc. *ga-laubjan "hold dear, love" (cf. O.S. gilobian, Du. geloven, O.H.G. gilouben, Ger. glauben), from PIE base *leubh- "to like, desire" (see love). Spelling beleeve is common till 17c.; then altered perhaps by influence of relieve. To believe on instead of in was more common in 16c. but now is a peculiarity of theology; believe of also sometimes was used in 17c.
race (2): "people of common descent," c.1500, from M.Fr. razza "race, breed, lineage," possibly from It. razza, of unknown origin (cf. Sp., Port. raza). Original senses in Eng. included "wines with characteristic flavor" (1520), "group of people with common occupation" (c.1500), and "generation" (c.1560). Meaning "tribe, nation, or people regarded as of common stock" is from c.1600. Modern meaning of "one of the great divisions of mankind based on physical peculiarities" is from 1774 (though even among anthropologists there never has been an accepted classification of these). Klein suggests these derive from Arabic ra's "head, beginning, origin" (cf. Heb. rosh). O.E. þeode meant both "race" and "language;" as a verb, geþeodan, it meant "to unite, to join." Racial is first attested 1862. Race-riot attested from 1890.
"Just being a Negro doesn't qualify you to understand the race situation any more than being sick makes you an expert on medicine." [Dick Gregory, 1964]
commune (n.): 1792, from Fr., "small territorial divisions set up after the Revolution," from M.Fr. commune "free city, group of citizens," from M.L. communia, orig. neut. pl. of L. communis, lit. "that which is common," from communis (see common). The Commune of Paris usurped the government during the Reign of Terror. The word was later applied to a government on communalistic principles set up in Paris in 1871. Adherents of the 1871 government were Communards.
oh: 1534, common interjection expressing various emotions, a common I.E. word (cf. O.Fr. ô, oh; L. o, oh; Gk. o; O.C.S., Lith. o; Goth., Du., Ger. o; O.Ir. a; Skt. a), but not in O.E., which translated L. oh with la or eala. Often extended for emphasis, e.g. Oh, baby, stock saying from c.1918; oh, boy (1910); oh, yeah (1924). Reduplicated form oh-oh as an expression of alarm or dismay is attested from 1944. Oh-so "so very" (often sarcastic or ironic) is from 1922. Oh yeah? "really? Is that so?" attested from 1930.
snudge: "a miser, a mean avaricious person," 1545, "very common from c.1550-1610" [OED].
COBOL: 1960, U.S. Defense Department acronym, from "Common Business-Oriented Language."
wick (2): "dairy farm," now surviving, if at all, as a localism in East Anglia or Essex, it was once the common O.E. wic "dwelling place, abode," then coming to mean "village, hamlet, town," and later "dairy farm" (e.g. Gatwick "Goat-farm"). Common in this latter sense 13c.-14c. The word is a general Gmc. borrowing from L. vicus "village, hamlet" (see vicinity). Cf. O.H.G. wih "village," Ger. Weichbild "municipal area," Du. wijk "quarter, district," O.Fris. wik, O.S. wic "village."
ignis fatuus: "will o' the wisp, jack-a-lantern," 1563, from M.L., lit. "foolish fire." It seems once to have been more common than presently.
rub (v.): late 14c., perhaps related to E.Fris. rubben "to scratch, rub," and Low Ger. rubbeling "rough, uneven," or similar words in Scandinavian (cf. Dan. rubbe "to rub, scrub," Norw. rubba), of uncertain origin. Hamlet's there's the rub (1602) preserves a noun sense of "obstacle, inequality on ground" first recorded 1580s and common in 17c. To rub (someone) the wrong way is from 1883. To rub noses in greeting as a sign of friendship (attested from 1822) formerly was common among Eskimos, Maoris, and some other Pacific Islanders. Rub out "obliterate" is from 1560s; underworld slang sense of "kill" is recorded from 1848, Amer.Eng. Rub off "have an influence on" is recorded from 1959.
rank (n.): early 14c., from O.Fr. ranc, from Frankish *hring (cf. O.H.G. hring "circle, ring"), from P.Gmc. *khrengaz "circle, ring" (see ring). Meaning "social position" is from c.1430; the verb sense of "put in order, classify" is from 1592. Rank and file is 1598, in reference to soldiers marching in formation, generalized to "common soldiers" (1796) and "common people" (1860). The verb meaning "to arrange things in order" is from 1590.
apo koinu: 1892, from Gk., lit. "in common." Applied to sentences with one subject and two predicates; a formation rare in modern Eng., though it occurs in O.E.
every: O.E. æfre ælc "each of a group," lit. "ever each" (Chaucer's everich) with ever added for emphasis, as the word is still felt to need emphasis (Mod.Eng. every last ..., every single ..., etc.). Everybody is from c.1530, everyone is in M.E., everything is c.1385, everywhere is O.E. æfre gehwær. The word everywhen is attested from 1843, but never caught on; neither did everyhow (1837). Everyday (adj.) is attested from 1632 in the sense of "worn on ordinary days," as opposed to Sundays or high days; extended sense of "to be met with every day, common" is from 1763. Everyman was the name of the leading character in a 15c. morality play. Slang phrase every Tom, Dick, and Harry dates from at least 1734, from common Eng. given names.
cock (n.1): O.E. cocc, O.Fr. coq, O.N. kokkr, all of echoic origin. O.E. cocc was a nickname for "one who strutted like a cock," thus a common term in the Middle Ages for a pert boy, used of scullions, apprentices, servants, etc. A common personal name till c.1500, it was affixed to Christian names as a pet diminutive, cf. Wilcox, Hitchcock, etc. Slang sense of "penis" is attested since 1618 (but cf. pillicock "penis," from c.1300); cock-teaser is from 1891. A cocker spaniel (1823) was trained to start woodcocks. Cock-and-bull is first recorded 1621, perhaps an allusion to Aesop's fables, with their incredible talking animals, or to a particular story, now forgotten. French has parallel expression coq-à-l'âne.
Peter: masc. proper name, from L. Petrus, from Gk. Petros, lit. "stone, rock," translation of Syriac kefa "stone" (Cephas), nickname Jesus gave to apostle Simon Bar-Jona (Matt. xvi:17), historically known as St. Peter, and consequently a popular name among Christians (e.g. It. Pietro, Sp. Pedro, O.Fr. Pierres, Fr. Pierre, etc.). The common form of this very common name in medieval England was Peres (Anglo-Fr. Piers), hence surnames Pierce, Pearson, etc. Among the dim. forms were Parkin and Perkin. Petronilla, fem. dim. of L. Petronius, "was the name of a saint much-invoked against fevers and regarded as a daughter of St. Peter. The name was accordingly regarded to be a derivative of Peter and became one of the most popular of girls' names, the vernacular Parnell being still used as a proper name as late as the 18th century in Cornwall" [Reaney]. Slang for "penis" is attested from 1902, probably from identity of first syllable. For Pete's sake is attested from 1924, probably a euphemistic use of the disciple's name in place of Christ; as an exclamation or quasi-oath, Peter! was in use 14c., but this likely is not connected to the modern use. To rob Peter to pay Paul (1515, also in early 17c. Fr. as descouvrir S. Pierre pour couvrir S. Pol) may be a ref. to the many churches dedicated to those two saints, and have sprung from the fairly common practice of building or enriching one church with the ruins or revenues of another.
c/o: addressing abbreviation for care of, "common" by 1889.
P.O.W.: acronym for prisoner of war, coined 1919, but not common until World War II.
avouch: late 15c., from M.Fr. avochier "call upon as authority," from O.Fr. avochier "call (to court), advocate, plead (a case)," from L. advocare "call to" as a witness (see advocate).
"Avouch, which is no longer in common use, means guarantee, solemnly aver, prove by assertion, maintain the truth or existence of, vouch for .... Avow means own publicly to, make no secret of, not shrink from admitting, acknowledge one's responsibility for .... Vouch is now common only in the phrase vouch for, which has taken the place of avouch in ordinary use, & means pledge one's word for ...." [Fowler]
attaboy: 1909, from common pronunciation of "that's the boy!" a cheer of encouragement or approval.
badder: obs. comparative of bad (q.v.), common 14c.-18c.
baddest: obs. superlative of bad (q.v.), common 14c.-18c.
commen: obs. spelling of common.