ENGLISH
REFERENCE

commons

n. uncountable
C1 Advanced US //ˈkɑmənz// UK //kˈɒmənz// com·mons Archaic Humorous

n. the part of a government where ordinary people's representatives meet to make laws. In the UK and Canada, this is the group of elected politicians who have the most power.

n. the lower house of a bicameral legislature, specifically the House of Commons in the United Kingdom or Canada. When used in this political sense, it is almost always capitalised and preceded by the definite article.


SIMPLE

The new law passed in the Commons today.

CONTEXTUAL

The Prime Minister faced difficult questions from the opposition during the weekly session in the Commons.

COMPLEX

Constitutional experts often debate the extent to which the Commons can override the upper house during periods of significant legislative deadlock.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Ellipsis of House of Commons.

Etymology 2

* English and Irish (Mayo Tipperary and Galway): variant of Cummings. * English: variant of Common with post-medieval excrescent -s.

Usage

Typically functions as a singular collective noun; almost always takes the definite article 'the'.

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