COMMON PLEAS is one of the king's courts now held constantly. constantly in Westminster hall, but in former times was moveable.

All civil causes, as well real as personal, are, or were formerly, tried in this court, according to the strict law of the land. In personal and mixed actions it has a concurrent jurisdiction with the king's bench, but has no cognizance of pleas of the crown. The actions belonging to the court of common pleas come thither by original, as arrests and outlawries; or by privilege, or attachment for or against privileged persons; or out of inferior courts, not of record, by pone, recordari, accedas ad curiam, writ of false judgment, &c. The chief judge of this court is called lord chief justice of the common pleas, who is assisted by three other judges: the other officers of the court are the custos brevium, who is the chief clerk; three prothonotaries, and their secondaries; the clerk of the warrants, clerk of the escheats, fourteen filazers, four exigentors, a clerk of the juries, the chirographer, the clerk of the king's silver, clerk of the treasury, clerk of the seal, clerk of the outlawries, clerk of the enrolment of fines and recoveries, and clerk of the errors.

law, that soil, the use of which is common to this or that town or lordship. There is common of pasture for cattle, and also common of fissing, common of elovers, common of turbary, &c.

Common prayer is the liturgy in the church of England. Clergymen are to use the public form of prayers prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer; and refusing to do so, or using any other public prayers, are punishable by 1 Eliz. c. ii.

grammar, denotes the gender of nouns, which are equally applicable to both sexes: thus parent, a parent, is of the common gender.

geometry, is applied to an angle, line, or the like, which belongs equally to two figures.

Common divisor, a quantity or number which exactly divides two or more other quantities or numbers, without leaving any remainder.