Added 9 October 2026
commonwealth
/ˈkɑmənˌwɛlθ/ noun
In Latin: respublica, civitas Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about commonwealth at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- The official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico).
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A politically organized body of people under a single government.
the state has elected a new president
- A world organization of autonomous states that are united in allegiance to a central power but are not subordinate to it or to one another.
Origin
From common (“public”) + wealth (“well-being”). From c. 1450 as common wele (commonweal). In the form common-wealth (common welthe) from c. 1520, used by Tyndale in the sense "secular society" in particular, for which other authors preferred publike weal. Also from the 1520s treated as a synonym or loan-translation of res publica (republic) (Rollison 2017:67f).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)