Common in Different Languages
Discover 'Common' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'common' is one that has found its way into the everyday vernacular of many languages, showcasing its significance and cultural importance. Derived from the Old English word gemæne, it has come to represent the idea of something being widespread, regularly encountered, or shareable among many. But have you ever wondered how this term translates in different languages around the world?
Understanding the translation of 'common' in various languages can provide valuable insights into the cultural nuances of different societies. For instance, in Spanish, 'common' is translated as 'común', while in French, it becomes 'commun'. These translations not only help break down language barriers but also reveal fascinating historical contexts and cultural associations.
Moreover, knowing the translation of 'common' in multiple languages can be practical for travelers, language learners, or anyone interested in global culture. It can facilitate communication, foster cross-cultural understanding, and even enhance your vocabulary in various languages.
Join us as we delve into the translations of 'common' in a variety of languages, from the familiar to the exotic. Here's a sneak peek at a few:
- German: 'gemeinsam'
- Italian: 'comune'
- Japanese: 一般
Stay tuned to discover more fascinating translations of the word 'common'!
Common
Common in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | algemene | ||
| Afrikaans "algemene" derives from the Dutch word "algemeen" meaning "general" or "universal". | |||
| Amharic | የተለመደ | ||
| The word "የተለመደ" in Amharic is derived from the verb "ተለመደ", meaning "to be accustomed to" or "to do something habitually". | |||
| Hausa | na kowa | ||
| Na kowa is also used to refer to something that is "public" or "belonging to everyone" | |||
| Igbo | nkịtị | ||
| “Nkịtị” also refers to the central part of an Igbo village where the villagers meet to hold meetings and discuss community issues. | |||
| Malagasy | iraisana | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of 'common', the Malagasy word 'iraisana' is derived from the root 'raisana', meaning 'appropriate' or 'suitable', and may also denote something appropriate to its intended purpose. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | wamba | ||
| The word "wamba" in Nyanja also has a connotation of "general" or "ordinary." | |||
| Shona | zvakajairika | ||
| The word "zvakajairika" can also refer to something that is "usual" or "ordinary". | |||
| Somali | caadi ah | ||
| The term 'caadi ah' or 'caadiyan' also has implications of normality and normalcy beyond mere prevalence, connoting ideas of appropriate or expected behaviour and experiences. | |||
| Sesotho | tloaelehileng | ||
| Swahili | kawaida | ||
| The word "kawaida" in Swahili has an alternate meaning of "tradition" or "customary practice." | |||
| Xhosa | eqhelekileyo | ||
| The word "eqhelekileyo" in Xhosa also means "familiar," "ordinary," or "usual." | |||
| Yoruba | wọpọ | ||
| "Wọpọ" in Yoruba can also mean "widespread", "general", or "shared by many". | |||
| Zulu | okuvamile | ||
| Okuvamile's alternate meaning is 'the one who has read' as it is constructed from the stem 'funda' meaning 'to read'. | |||
| Bambara | min bɛ deli ka kɛ | ||
| Ewe | nu bɔbɔ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | rusange | ||
| Lingala | mbala mingi | ||
| Luganda | kya bulijjo | ||
| Sepedi | tlwaelega | ||
| Twi (Akan) | daa daa | ||
Common in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | مشترك | ||
| The Arabic word "مشترك" derives from the root "ش ر ك," meaning "to partner" or "to share." | |||
| Hebrew | מְשׁוּתָף | ||
| מְשׁוּתָף derives from the verb שָׁתַף meaning "to join" and is also used in Hebrew as a mathematical term meaning "shared"} | |||
| Pashto | عام | ||
| The Pashto word "عام" can also refer to the public, the general population, or the masses. | |||
| Arabic | مشترك | ||
| The Arabic word "مشترك" derives from the root "ش ر ك," meaning "to partner" or "to share." | |||
Common in Western European Languages
| Albanian | i zakonshëm | ||
| The word “i zakonshëm” comes from a Greek word and shares a root with words meaning “law” and “legality.” | |||
| Basque | arrunta | ||
| The word "arrunta" can also refer to a community pasture or a group belonging to a community that enjoys special use rights over that pasture. | |||
| Catalan | comú | ||
| "Comú" (common) comes from the Latin "communis", meaning "shared by all" or "belonging to the community". | |||
| Croatian | uobičajen | ||
| In linguistics, uobičajen can refer to the most frequent word in a sentence instead of its usual meaning. | |||
| Danish | almindelige | ||
| The word "almindelige" comes from the Old Norse word "almenningr" meaning "common to all". | |||
| Dutch | gemeenschappelijk | ||
| "Gemeenschappelijk" (common) originates from "gemeenschap," meaning community, highlighting its shared nature. | |||
| English | common | ||
| The word "common" comes from the Old French word "commun," which means "public" or "shared." | |||
| French | commun | ||
| In French, "commun" can also refer to a municipality, the area it governs, or a group of people sharing a common interest or goal. | |||
| Frisian | gewoan | ||
| Frisian "gewoan" is also used to refer to a "common occurrence" or "a customary practice". | |||
| Galician | común | ||
| The Galician word "común" can also mean "parish" or "municipality". | |||
| German | verbreitet | ||
| The German word "verbreitet" can also mean "to spread" or "to distribute. | |||
| Icelandic | sameiginlegt | ||
| "Sameiginlegt" also means "socialist" or "communist" in Icelandic. | |||
| Irish | coitianta | ||
| In Early Modern Irish, "coitianta" could also mean "ordinary, usual, general, or common". | |||
| Italian | comune | ||
| The Italian word "comune" derives from the Latin word "communis", meaning "shared" or "belonging to all" | |||
| Luxembourgish | gemeinsam | ||
| The word "gemeinsam" comes from the Middle High German "gemeine" and originally meant "pertaining to the community". | |||
| Maltese | komuni | ||
| The word "komuni" derives from the Italian "comune" meaning "common" or "communal" and is often used in Maltese in the sense of "public" or "shared". | |||
| Norwegian | vanlig | ||
| Vanlig comes from “vanr” (custom) and has a related meaning to “venn” (friend). It can also mean ordinary, regular and normal. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | comum | ||
| The Portuguese word "comum" comes from the Latin word "communis", meaning "shared" or "belonging to everyone". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | cumanta | ||
| The word "cumanta" can also mean "society" or "community". | |||
| Spanish | común | ||
| The Spanish word "común" derives from the Latin "communis," meaning "shared" or "public," and also shares its root with the English word "commune." | |||
| Swedish | allmänning | ||
| Allmänning originated from the Old Swedish word for "meadow" and originally described meadows for communal grazing. | |||
| Welsh | cyffredin | ||
| The word cyffredin, meaning 'common', is derived from the Latin word 'communis', which also means 'common' or 'shared'. | |||
Common in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | агульны | ||
| Bosnian | često | ||
| The word "često" in Bosnian shares its root with the words "čast" (honor) and "čistiti" (to clean), suggesting a connection between commonness and ideas of purity and respect. | |||
| Bulgarian | често срещани | ||
| The Bulgarian word "често срещани" (common) comes from the Proto-Slavic root *čęstъ, meaning "frequent" or "abundant." | |||
| Czech | běžný | ||
| Besides the basic meaning of "common", "běžný" can also mean "average", "ordinary", or "usual" in Czech. | |||
| Estonian | tavaline | ||
| The word "tavaline" comes from the Estonian word "tava", which means "custom" or "habit". | |||
| Finnish | yleinen | ||
| The word | |||
| Hungarian | gyakori | ||
| In older Hungarian, "gyakori" referred specifically to frequent rain or thunderstorms. | |||
| Latvian | bieži | ||
| Latvian bieži is based on the Indo-European root *bhi-, and in addition to 'common', also has the alternate meanings 'frequent' and 'often'. | |||
| Lithuanian | paplitęs | ||
| The Lithuanian word "paplitęs" also has the meaning of "scattered". | |||
| Macedonian | заеднички | ||
| The word "заеднички" in Macedonian can also refer to a "public utility", such as a public park or library. | |||
| Polish | wspólny | ||
| The word "wspólny" derives from the Proto-Slavic root *vьspolьni, meaning "belonging to all" or "shared by all". | |||
| Romanian | uzual | ||
| "Uzual", which means "common" in Romanian, is derived from the Latin word "usualis" meaning "customary" or "habitual." | |||
| Russian | общий | ||
| The word "общий" in Russian can also mean "total" or "general", and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *obьšte "in common, jointly". | |||
| Serbian | заједнички | ||
| The word "заједнички" in Serbian not only means "common" but also "mutual" or "shared" in the sense of "joint possession or ownership". | |||
| Slovak | bežné | ||
| The word "bežné" is also used to describe everyday or usual occurrences; "It's not bežné for him to do that." | |||
| Slovenian | običajni | ||
| The word "običajni" in Slovenian can also mean "customary" or "traditional" | |||
| Ukrainian | загальний | ||
| Ukrainian 'загальний' derives from Old Slavonic 'съобьштинъ', a word denoting possession by a community of people. | |||
Common in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সাধারণ | ||
| "সাধারণ" comes from "সাধন" meaning "practice, custom", and is related to "সাধু" ("saint") and "সাধনা" ("devotion"). | |||
| Gujarati | સામાન્ય | ||
| The Gujarati word "સામાન્ય" is derived from the Sanskrit root "samanya," meaning "equal, similar, or shared." | |||
| Hindi | सामान्य | ||
| सामान्य in Hindi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Samanya', which also means 'general, universal, or ordinary'. | |||
| Kannada | ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ | ||
| The word "ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ" can also mean "usual" or "ordinary" in Kannada. | |||
| Malayalam | സാധാരണമാണ് | ||
| Marathi | सामान्य | ||
| The Marathi word "सामान्य" can also refer to "the state of being ordinary". | |||
| Nepali | साधारण | ||
| The word "साधारण" can also mean "average" or "normal" in Nepali. | |||
| Punjabi | ਆਮ | ||
| In Punjabi, the word 'aam' (ਆਮ) means 'common', but it can also refer to the mango fruit. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | පොදු | ||
| The word 'පොදු' can be traced back to the Sanskrit word 'सामान्य' (sāmānya), which means ordinary or common. | |||
| Tamil | பொதுவானது | ||
| The Tamil word ' பொதுவானது' comes from the Proto-Dravidian root *puḷ, meaning "to gather" and denotes something shared by a community or group. | |||
| Telugu | సాధారణం | ||
| Urdu | عام | ||
| عام shares its root with عامہ (population), meaning a group of common people. | |||
Common in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 共同 | ||
| The character "共 (common)" is also used in simplified Chinese to denote "together" or "public." | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 共同 | ||
| The word "共同" can also mean "public" or "shared". | |||
| Japanese | 一般 | ||
| The word "一般" (common) in Japanese can also mean "in general" or "ordinary". | |||
| Korean | 흔한 | ||
| The word "흔한" can also mean "ordinary" or "familiar" in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | нийтлэг | ||
| The word "нийтлэг" also means "average" or "ordinary". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဘုံ | ||
| The word “ဘုံ” in Myanmar can also mean “a realm” or “a world” in Buddhism. | |||
Common in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | umum | ||
| In Arabic, "'umum" means "general" or "universal." | |||
| Javanese | umume | ||
| The Javanese word "umume" can also refer to a general or average state or condition. | |||
| Khmer | ធម្មតា | ||
| The word "ធម្មតា" can also be used to describe something that is "ordinary" or "usual". | |||
| Lao | ສາມັນ | ||
| Malay | biasa | ||
| "Biasa" can also mean "ordinary" or "regular" in Malay. | |||
| Thai | เรื่องธรรมดา | ||
| In Thai, 'เรื่องธรรมดา' can also refer to someone's normal state of being or regular behavior. | |||
| Vietnamese | chung | ||
| The word "chung" can also mean "public" or "collective", and is derived from the Chinese character "公". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | karaniwan | ||
Common in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | ümumi | ||
| "Ümumi" can also refer to the common good or public interest in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | жалпы | ||
| The word "жалпы" in Kazakh can also refer to a "herd" or "flock". | |||
| Kyrgyz | жалпы | ||
| In Turkish, “жалпы” also means the “total,” “collective,” or “general public.” | |||
| Tajik | умумӣ | ||
| The word “умумӣ” originates from the Arabic word “عَام” meaning “general” or “public”. | |||
| Turkmen | umumy | ||
| Uzbek | umumiy | ||
| The word "umumiy" in Uzbek is derived from the Arabic word "ʿāmm" meaning "general". While in Uzbek it's used for "common", in Turkish it means "public". | |||
| Uyghur | ئورتاق | ||
Common in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | maʻamau | ||
| Maʻamau, when used as a noun, also means "the normal type" or "regular size". For example, the phrase "iʻa maʻamau" means "plain fish", as opposed to "iʻa nalo" which means "fish with roe". | |||
| Maori | noa | ||
| Maori 'noa' is thought to be derived from Samoan 'sa'noa', which means 'village', indicating a connection between the two languages. | |||
| Samoan | taatele | ||
| "Taatele" also means "usual, regular, ordinary, normal." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pangkaraniwan | ||
| While "pangkaraniwan" usually means "common," it also means "usual," "ordinary," and "mediocre." | |||
Common in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | utjapuniri | ||
| Guarani | jepigua | ||
Common in International Languages
| Esperanto | ofta | ||
| Esperanto's "ofta" shares an etymology with the English word "often" and can also mean "frequent". | |||
| Latin | communia | ||
| The communal nature of ownership and the community of goods in Early Christianity both derive from the Latin word "communia" | |||
Common in Others Languages
| Greek | κοινός | ||
| The Greek word 'koinós' (meaning 'common') also carries connotations like 'public' (shared by the society) | |||
| Hmong | ntau | ||
| In the Hmong language, "ntau" can also refer to a "small amount" or a "short time". | |||
| Kurdish | hevre | ||
| The Kurdish word `hevre` also means `society`, `association`, and `friendliness`. | |||
| Turkish | yaygın | ||
| Yaygın means 'widespread' but it's also used in the sense of 'regular' or 'customary' | |||
| Xhosa | eqhelekileyo | ||
| The word "eqhelekileyo" in Xhosa also means "familiar," "ordinary," or "usual." | |||
| Yiddish | פּראָסט | ||
| The Yiddish word "פּראָסט" originates from the Old Russian word "прость" (prosty), meaning "simple" or "plain". | |||
| Zulu | okuvamile | ||
| Okuvamile's alternate meaning is 'the one who has read' as it is constructed from the stem 'funda' meaning 'to read'. | |||
| Assamese | সাধাৰণ | ||
| Aymara | utjapuniri | ||
| Bhojpuri | साधारण | ||
| Dhivehi | އާންމު | ||
| Dogri | सांझा | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | karaniwan | ||
| Guarani | jepigua | ||
| Ilocano | sapasap | ||
| Krio | kɔmɔn | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | باو | ||
| Maithili | सामान्य | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯥꯟꯅꯅ ꯑꯣꯏꯒꯟꯕ | ||
| Mizo | uar | ||
| Oromo | baratamaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସାଧାରଣ | ||
| Quechua | kikin | ||
| Sanskrit | सुलभः | ||
| Tatar | уртак | ||
| Tigrinya | ልሙድ | ||
| Tsonga | fana | ||