Commonness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The rate at which something occurs or is encountered in a given context
2. How often a particular event, condition, or trait appears within a specific area or group
3. The measure of how common or widespread a phenomenon happens or exists

Etymology: "Commonness" is a plain formation: the adjective "common" with the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. The adjective itself came into English through Anglo-Norman "comun" from Latin "communis", meaning shared by all or belonging to many, and that sense of "shared" remains at the core of the noun. The suffix "-ness" is native English, descended from Old English "-nes", and it has been attached to adjectives since the Old English period, so the formation is ancient even though this particular noun is comparatively late. The noun's meaning follows the adjective's move from "shared by many" to "ordinary, lacking distinction." "Commonness" therefore names either the quality of being widely shared or the quality of being unremarkable, and the two senses sit close together in everyday use, as when people speak of the commonness of a surname or the commonness of a pattern in data.

Synonyms: ordinariness, prevalence, ubiquity, frequency, regularity

Antonyms: rarity, uncommonness, exceptionality