Common vs Close - What's the difference?

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between common and close

is that common is (obsolete) to board together; to eat at a table in common while close is (obsolete) out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.

As adjectives the difference between common and close

is that common is mutual; shared by more than one while close is closed, shut.

As nouns the difference between common and close

is that common is mutual good, shared by more than one while close is an end or conclusion or close can be an enclosed field.

As verbs the difference between common and close

is that common is (obsolete) to communicate (something) while close is (label) to remove a gap.

common

English

(wikipedia common)

Adjective

(en-adj)

Mutual; shared by more than one.

* , chapter=19

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}

Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke

, title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}

Found in large numbers or in a large quantity.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=Lee A. Groat, title=Gemstones

, volume=100, issue=2, page=128, magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}

Simple, ordinary or vulgar.

* Washington Irving

the honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life

* Shakespeare

This fact was infamous / And ill beseeming any common man, / Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.

* A. Murphy

above the vulgar flight of common souls

She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.

(grammar) In some languages, particularly Germanic languages, of the gender originating from the coalescence of the masculine and feminine categories of nouns.

Of or pertaining to uncapitalized nouns in English, i.e., common nouns vs. proper nouns.

Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal, i.e., common name vs. scientific name.

(obsolete) Profane; polluted.

* Bible, Acts x. 15

What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common .

(obsolete) Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

* L'Estrange

a dame who herself was common

Synonyms

* (mutual ): mutual, shared * (usual ): normal, ordinary, standard, usual * (occurring in large numbers or in a large quantity ): widespread * See also

Antonyms

* (mutual ): personal, individual * (usual ): rare, unusual, uncommon * (occurring in large numbers or in a large quantity ): few and far between, rare, uncommon

Noun

(en noun)

Mutual good, shared by more than one.

A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

* {{quote-book, year=1944, author=(w)

, title= The Three Corpse Trick, chapter=5 , passage=The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common .}}

The people; the community.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

the weal o' the common

(label) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.

Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To communicate (something).

* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans, Bible , Luke XXII:

Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was iscariot (which was of the nombre off the twelve) and he went his waye, and commened with the hye prestes and officers, how he wolde betraye hym vnto them.

(obsolete) To converse, talk.

* , II.ix:

So long as Guyon with her commoned , / Vnto the ground she cast her modest eye [...].

* Grafton

Embassadors were sent upon both parts, and divers means of entreaty were commoned of.

(obsolete) To have sex.

(obsolete) To participate.

(Sir Thomas More)

(obsolete) To have a joint right with others in common ground.

(Johnson)

(obsolete) To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Derived terms

* common name * commonality * common dolphin * commoner * common gender * the common good * common noun * common-or-garden * commonplace * commons * common radish * commonsense * common touch * House of Commons * in common

Statistics

* 1000 English basic words

close

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Verb

(clos)

(label) To remove a gap.

# To obstruct (an opening).

# To move so that an opening is closed.

#* (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)

What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?

#*:If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.

# To make (e.g. a gap) smaller.

# To grapple; to engage in close combat.

#* (1796-1859)

They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.

(label) To finish, to terminate.

# To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.

#* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)

One frugal supper did our studies close .

# To come to an end.

# (label) To make a sale.

# To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.

# To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.

To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine.

* Bible, (w) ii. 5

The depth closed me round about.

* (George Herbert) (1593-1633)

But now Thou dost Thyself immure and close / In some one corner of a feeble heart; / Where yet both Sinne and Satan, Thy old foes, / Do pinch and straiten Thee, and use much art / To gain Thy thirds' and little part.

(label) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.

Synonyms

* close off, close up, cover, shut, shut off * shut * (put an end to) end, finish, terminate, wind up, close down * narrow * (terminate a computer program) close out, exit

Antonyms

* open * open * (put an end to) begin, commence, initiate, start * extend, widen * (terminate a computer program) open, start

Derived terms

* autoclosing * case closed * close down * close in * close off * close one's eyes * close out * close ranks * close the door on * close the face * close up *

Noun

(en noun)

An end or conclusion.

We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close .

* Macaulay

His long and troubled life was drawing to a close .

The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.

* Chapman

The doors of plank were; their close exquisite.

A grapple in wrestling.

(Francis Bacon)

(music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.

* Dryden

At every close she made, the attending throng / Replied, and bore the burden of the song.

(music) A double bar marking the end.

Synonyms

* (end) end, finale

Antonyms

* (end) beginning, start

Etymology 2

From (etyl) clos, from (etyl) clausum, participle of (m).

Adjective

(er)

Closed, shut.

* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew chapter 8:

There is nothinge so close , that shall not be openned, and nothinge so hyd that shall not be knowen.

* Dryden

From a close bower this dainty music flowed.

Narrow; confined.

a close''' alley; '''close quarters

* Charles Dickens

a close prison

At a little distance; near.

* , chapter=7

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=[…] St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close -packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close . This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}

Intimate; well-loved.

# (legal) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.

Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.

* Francis Bacon

If the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and doors, the one maketh the air close , and the other maketh it exceeding unequal.

Hot, humid, with no wind.

(linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.

Strictly confined; carefully guarded.

a close prisoner

(obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.

* Bible, 1 Chron. xii. 1

He yet kept himself close because of Saul.

* Spenser

her close intent

Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.

a close contest

Short.

to cut grass or hair close

(archaic) Dense; solid; compact.

* John Locke

The golden globe being put into a press, the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.

(archaic) Concise; to the point.

close reasoning

* Dryden

Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.

(dated) Difficult to obtain.

Money is close .

(Bartlett)

(dated) Parsimonious; stingy.

* Hawthorne

a crusty old fellow, as close as a vice

Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.

a close translation

(John Locke)

Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.

The patient was kept under close observation.

Synonyms

* (at a little distance) close by, near, nearby * (intimate) intimate * muggy, oppressive * (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) high

Antonyms

* (at a little distance) distant, far, far away, far off, remote * (intimate) aloof, cool, distant * (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) open

Derived terms

* close call * closely * closeness * close shave * close-up * thisclose

Noun

(en noun)

An enclosed field.

(British) A street that ends in a dead end.

(Scotland) A very narrow alley between two buildings, often overhung by one of the buildings above the ground floor.

(Scotland) The common staircase in a tenement.

A cathedral close.

* Macaulay

closes surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.

(legal) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed.

(Bouvier)

Synonyms

* (street) cul-de-sac

Statistics

Anagrams

* English ergative verbs English heteronyms 1000 English basic words ----