COMMUNIS, something that belongs to all alike, or is owned or allowed by all, and not confined to this more than that. In this sense, common stands opposed to proper, peculiar, &c. Thus, the earth is said to be our common mother; and in the first or golden age, all things were in common, as well as the sun and elements. The name of animal is common to man and beast, that of substance to body and spirit.

Communia (quod ad omnes pertinet), in law, signifies that soil, the use of which is common to a particular town or lordship; or it is a profit that a man has in the land of another person, usually in common with others; or a right which a person has to put his cattle to pasture into ground that is not his own. And there is not only common of pasture, but also common of piscary, common of estovers, common of turbary, &c. In all cases of common, the law respects the custom of the place; for the rule is, consuetudo loci est observanda.

Common-Place Book, is a register of what things occur worthy to be noted, in the course of a man's thinking or study, and is so disposed, as that, among a number of subjects, any one may be easily found. The advantages of a common-place book are manifold. It not only makes a man read with accuracy and attention, but induces him insensibly to think for himself, provided he considers it not so much a register of sentiments which strike him in the course of reading, as a register of his own thoughts upon various subjects. Many valuable thoughts occur even to men of no extraordinary genius; but these, without the assistance of a common-place book, are generally lost both to himself and others. There are various methods of arranging common-place books; that of Mr Locke is as good as any that has hitherto been contrived.

The first page of the book in which it is intended to take down common-places serves as a kind of index to the whole, and contains references to every place or matter therein; and in the commodious contrivance of this index, so as to admit of a sufficient variety of materials, without any confusion, all the secret of the method consists.

In order to this, the first page, as already mentioned, or, for more room, the first two pages that front each other, are to be divided by parallel lines into twenty-five equal parts, of which every fifth line is to be distinguished by its colour or other circumstance. These lines are to be cut perpendicularly by others, drawn from top to bottom; and in the several spaces the several letters of the alphabet, both capital and minuscule, are to be duly written.

The form of the lines and divisions, both horizontal and perpendicular, with the manner of writing the letters therein, will be conceived from the following specimen; in which, what is to be done in the book for all the letters of the alphabet is here shown in the first four, A, B, C, and D. The index to the common-place book being thus formed, matters are ready for the taking down any thing therein.

In order to this, consider to what head the thing you would enter may most naturally be referred, and under which one would be led to look for such a thing: in this head or word regard is had to the initial letter, and the first vowel that follows it, which are the characteristic letters on which all the use of the index depends.

Suppose, for instance, we would enter down a passage that refers to the head beauty. B is the initial letter, and e the first vowel; then looking upon the index for the partition B, and the line e, which is the place for all words whose first letter is b, and the first vowel e, as beauty, beneficence, bread, breeding, blemishes, and finding no numbers already down to direct us to any page of the book where words of this characteristic have been entered, we turn forward to the first blank page we find, which, in a fresh book, as this is supposed to be, will be page second, and there write what we have occasion for on the head beauty; beginning the head in the margin, and indenting all the other subservient lines, that the head may stand out and show itself. This done, we enter the page in which it is written, viz. 2, in the index in the space B e; from which time the class b e becomes wholly in possession of the second and third pages, which are consigned to letters of this characteristic.

Had we found any page or number already entered in the space B e, we must have turned to the page, and have written our matter in whatever space was left therein. Thus, if after entering the passage on beauty, we should have occasion for benevolence, or the like, finding the number 2 already possessed of the space of this characteristic, we would begin the passage on benevolence in the remainder of the page; but this not containing the whole, we would carry it on to page third, which is also for b e, and add the number 3 in the index.

Common Pleas is one of the king's courts, now held constantly in Westminster Hall; but in former times it 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 the 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, and so forth. The chief judge of this court, called lord chief justice of the common pleas, is assisted by three other judges, called puisne judges.

Common Prayer is the liturgy in the church of England. See Liturgy. Clergymen are bound to use the public form of prayers prescribed by the book of common prayer; and on their refusing to do so, or using any other public prayers, they are punishable by stat. I Eliz. c. 2.

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.