Commonwealth
['kɒmənwelθ] or ['kɑmən'wɛlθ]
Definition
(noun.) 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.
(noun.) the official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico).
Checker: Millicent--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws.
(n.) The whole body of people in a state; the public.
(n.) Specifically, the form of government established on the death of Charles I., in 1649, which existed under Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard, ending with the abdication of the latter in 1659.
Inputed by Eunice
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. State, realm, nation, republic, body politic, popular government, representative government.[2]. The public, the people, the community, body of the people.
Typed by Alice
Definition
n. the common or public good: the government in a free state: the public or whole body of the people: a form of government in which the power rests with the people esp. that in England after the overthrow of Charles I.
Typed by Belinda
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. An administrative entity operated by an incalculable multitude of political parasites logically active but fortuitously efficient.
Typed by Blanche
Examples
- What Plato had heard or seen of Sparta was applied by him in a mistaken way to his ideal commonwealth. Plato. The Republic.
- But, if congenial to philosophy, it is apt to be dangerous to the commonwealth. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Such as they are, however, it seldom costs the sovereign or commonwealth any expense to prepare them for the field. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Every different order of citizens is bound to contribute to the support of the sovereign or commonwealth. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The change of government in the time of the English Commonwealth set men thinking about first principles, and gave rise to many works of this class. Plato. The Republic.
- Of the Funds, or Sources, of Revenue, which may peculiarly belong to the Sovereign or Commonwealth. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The funds, or sources, of revenue, which may peculiarly belong to the sovereign or commonwealth, must consist, either in stock, or in land. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- There is, perhaps, but one set of men in the whole commonwealth to whom the bounty either was or could be essentially serviceable. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The fifth and last book treats of the revenue of the sovereign, or commonwealth. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- In a world where doing means marrying, and the commonwealth is one of hearts and hands, the same peril attends the condition. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Later the stems were baluster shape with a seal top, and at the time of the Commonwealth the stem became flat and perfectly plain. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Edited by Harold