community
noun
Simple meaning
A group of people who live in the same area or share something important.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhmyoonuhteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kəmˈjunəti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
A group sharing common characteristics, such as the same language, law, religion, or tradition.
countableInternet
A group of people interacting by electronic means for educational, professional, social, or other purposes; a virtual community.
Common ownership
“They shared a community of possessions.”
ecology
A group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other
A group of nations having common interests
“They hoped to join the NATO community.”
countable
A residential or religious collective; a commune.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A group sharing common characteristics, such as the same language, law, religion, or tradition.
Used this way, community is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
- Religion/spirituality
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Group sharing common characteristics, suchnoun
“They hoped to join the NATO community.”
Commonnoun
“They shared a community of possessions.”
More ways to use community
- “The team is drawn from all parts of the community.”noun
- “He was well known throughout the Catholic community.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A form of socialism that abolishes private ownership.
Related to A group sharing common characteristics, such as the same language, law, religion, or tradition.
Related to A group sharing common characteristics, such as the same language, law, religion, or tradition.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A center where the members of a community can gather for social or cultural activities.
A charity supported by individual subscriptions.
A nonresidential junior college offering a curriculum fitted to the needs of the community.
Agreement as to goals.
The body of individuals holding advanced academic degrees.
Property and income belonging jointly to a married couple.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: group sharing common characteristics
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.