What is "common room"

common room \common room\, common-room \common-room\n. a room, usually at a school or university, set aside for the common use of everyone. It usually has comfortable chairs for reading or conversation, and some provision for obtaining refreshments.

Syn: .

n. (context UK Australia Canada NZ English) A shared lounge found in dormitory, university, military bases, etc.

n. a sitting room (usually at school or university)

The phrase common room is used especially in British and Canadian English to describe a type of shared lounge, most often found in dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. It is generally connected to several private rooms, and may incorporate a bathroom. However, they may also be found in day schools and sixth forms.

Regular features include couches, televisions, coffee tables, and other generic lounge furniture for socializing.

Depending on its location and purpose of use, a common room may be known by another name. For instance, in mental hospitals, where access is usually restricted to the daytime hours, this type of room is often called a "day room".

In Singapore, the term usually refers to a bedroom without attached bathroom in an HDB apartment unit.

In some universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland — particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Durham, York, Kent and Lancaster— students and the academic body are organised into a common room, or at Cambridge a combination room. These groups exist to provide representation in the organisation of college or residential hall life, to operate certain services within these institutions such as laundry or recreation, and to provide opportunities for socialising. Typically, though there are variations based on institutional tradition and needs, the following common rooms will exist in a college or hall:

• A Junior Common Room (JCR) - for the undergraduate population
• A Middle Common Room (MCR) - for the postgraduate population
• A Senior Common Room (SCR) - for academics and other members of staff.

In addition to this, each of the above phrases may also refer to an actual room designated for the use of these groups. At the University of Cambridge, the term combination room (e.g., "Junior Combination Room") is also used, with the same abbreviations. As a generalisation, JCRs are associations of undergraduates and SCRs an association of tutors and academics associated with a college. Postgraduates are sometimes given their own MCR, or placed in with either of the other groups. This terminology has, in addition, been taken up in some universities in other English speaking nations.