Find the word definition

Crossword clues for commonwealth

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Commonwealth

Commonwealth \Com"mon*wealth`\ (?; 277), n. [Common + wealth well-being.]

  1. A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws.

    The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth.
    --Milton.

    Note: This term is applied to governments which are considered as free or popular, but rarely, or improperly, to an absolute government. The word signifies, strictly, the common well-being or happiness; and hence, a form of government in which the general welfare is regarded rather than the welfare of any class.

  2. The whole body of people in a state; the public.

  3. (Eng. Hist.) Specifically, the form of government established on the death of Charles I., in 1649, which existed under Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard, ending with the abdication of the latter in 1659.

    Syn: State; realm; republic.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
commonwealth

late 15c., "public welfare, general good," from common (adj.) + wealth (n.); meaning "the state" is attested from 1510s; applied specifically to the government of England in the period 1649-1660.

Wiktionary
commonwealth

n. 1 A form of government, named for the concept that everything that is not owned by specific individuals or groups is owned collectively by everyone in the governmental unit, as opposed to a ''state'', where the state itself owns such things. 2 Approximately, a republic.

WordNet
commonwealth
  1. n. the official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico)

  2. a politically organized body of people under a single government; "the state has elected a new president"; "African nations"; "students who had come to the nation's capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an industrialized land" [syn: state, nation, country, land, res publica, body politic]

  3. a world organization of autonomous states that are united in allegiance to a central power but are not subordinate to it or to one another

  4. a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them [syn: democracy, republic] [ant: autocracy]

Wikipedia
Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically it has sometimes been synonymous with " republic".

The English noun "commonwealth" in the sense meaning "public welfare; general good or advantage" dates from the 15th century. The original phrase "the common-wealth" or "the common weal" (echoed in the modern synonym "public weal") comes from the old meaning of "wealth", which is "well-being", and is itself a loose translation of the Latin res publica (republic). The term literally meant "common well-being". In the 17th century the definition of "commonwealth" expanded from its original sense of "public welfare" or "commonweal" to mean "a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people; a republic or democratic state". "Better things were done, and better managed ... under a Commonwealth than under a King." Pepys, Diary (1667)

Three countries – Australia, the Bahamas, and Dominica – have the official title "Commonwealth", as do four US states and two US territories. More recently, the term has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations, most notably the Commonwealth of Nations, an association primarily of former members of the British Empire, which is often referred to as simply "the Commonwealth".

Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)

In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.

The definition of "Commonwealth" according to current U.S. State Department policy (as codified in the department's Foreign Affairs Manual) reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific political status or relationship. It has, for example, been applied to both states and territories. When used in connection with areas under U.S. sovereignty that are not states, the term broadly describes an area that is self-governing under a constitution of its adoption and whose right of self-government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by Congress."

There are currently two United States insular areas with the status of commonwealth, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico.

__TOC__

Commonwealth (novel)

Commonwealth is the third full novel written by the American author Joey Goebel.

Commonwealth (song)

" Commonwealth" is a Beatles song credited to Lennon–McCartney, released only on bootleg. "Commonwealth" is an unpolished recording from January 1969 with Paul McCartney ad-libbing on lead vocals, and John Lennon ad libbing a backing vocal. It was disliked by McCartney, so it was never released.

Commonwealth (album)

Commonwealth is the title of the fifth studio album by progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, released in 1981 on the Flying Fish label. This album was the last one for two band members, Courtney Johnson and Curtis Burch, who cited fatigue with the band's touring schedule.

Commonwealth (statue)

Commonwealth is a gilded statue atop the dome of the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is nicknamed Miss Penn and the Spirit of the Commonwealth. It is also sometimes called Letitia, after the daughter of William Penn, the assumed inspiration for the statue.

Commonwealth (book)

Commonwealth is a book by Autonomous Marxist theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. It completes a trilogy which includes Empire and Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire.

The influence of the book has paralleled the rise of the " common" as a concept at the center of the political and cultural debate.

Commonwealth (U.S. state)

Commonwealth is a designation used by four of the 50 states of the United States in their full, official state names. The four are: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. All of them were, prior to 1776, British colonies or parts thereof (Kentucky was originally a part of the land grant of the Colony of Virginia) and share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions.

The term " Commonwealth" does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by a state. Those that do use it are equal to those that do not. A traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good, it is used symbolically to emphasize that these states have a "government based on the common consent of the people" as opposed to one legitimated through their earlier colonial status that was derived from the British crown. It refers to the common "weal", or welfare, of the public and is derived from a loose translation of the Latin term res publica ( cf. the 17th-century Commonwealth of England).

Besides the four aforementioned states, other states may also, on occasion, use the term "commonwealth" to refer to themselves. Vermont, for instance, uses the term "commonwealth" three times in its constitution, interchangeably with the term " state". Also, while Delaware was primarily referred to as a "State" in its 1776 constitution, the term "Commonwealth" was also used in one article within it.

Two U.S. territories are also designated as commonwealths: Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. When used in connection with areas under U.S. sovereignty that are not states, the term broadly describes an area that is self-governing under a constitution of its adoption and whose right of self-government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by the United States Congress.

Commonwealth (disambiguation)

Commonwealth is a term meaning a political community.

Commonwealth or Common Wealth may also refer to:

  • Commonwealth (book), by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
  • Commonwealth (novel), 2008 novel by Joey Goebel
  • The Commonwealth (periodical), a publication of the London branch of the Christian Social Union (Church of England)
  • The Commonwealth (Pittsburgh), a 19th-century newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • "Commonwealth" (song), bootleg song by the Beatles
  • Commonwealth (Sloan album)
  • Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), a type of U.S. territory
  • Commonwealth (U.S. state), title adopted by four U.S. states
  • Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, former Australian aircraft manufacturer
  • Commonwealth Athletic Conference, a high school athletic conference in Massachusetts
  • Commonwealth Brands, a tobacco company now called Commonwealth-Altadis, part of Imperial Tobacco
  • Commonwealth of Nations or the Commonwealth, formerly called the British Commonwealth, an organisation of the United Kingdom and mostly former colonies
  • Commonwealth School, an independent high school in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Commonwealth Secondary School, a secondary school in Singapore
  • Commonwealth, Wisconsin, a town
  • Commonwealth (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
  • HMAS Commonwealth, a Royal Australian Navy shore base in Japan from 1952 to 1956
  • HMS Commonwealth, battleship in the Royal Navy from 1905 to 1921
Commonwealth (automobile company)

The Commonwealth Motors Corporation was a luxury auto company that produced cars from 1917-1922. The company was founded originally as Partin-Palmer company in 1913, but in 1915 got into financial trouble in Chicago. So, in 1917, the name was changed to Commonwealth, and production was moved to Joliet, Illinois.

Commonwealth (Sloan album)

Commonwealth is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band, Sloan. The album debuted at #9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, which is the band's highest position on that chart in their history.

Usage examples of "commonwealth".

Shortly after Britain formally applied for membership in the European Common Market, a meeting of the Commonwealth Economic Con-, sultative Council was convened at Accra, in Ghana, to explore the difficulties to Commonwealth trade that might arise.

But Adams did like the children and hugely enjoyed observing them: I sometimes, in my sprightly moments, consider myself, in my great chair at school, as some dictator at the head of a commonwealth.

These are the property of Sierra International, which is part of the powerful mining empire of Afric International, which in turn is a rich capital asset of the British Commonwealth.

As the Commonwealth was discovering, sentient aliens were a rare commodity, at least in this section of the galaxy.

Dyson aliens were lurking close to a Commonwealth world, they would soon be able to gain an understanding of us from what we broadcast.

The Commonwealth might not have been warned that the barrier is down, and the aliens it contained do not appear to be friendly.

Commonwealth a five-month supply of antihydrogen, a capital ship, and one very big engineer.

Lapinsky was in bed and, from the ragged sound of his voice, asleep when Porter told him he had to beat it over to Commonwealth Avenue, to the archdiocesan office.

In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country to love, a property to defend, and some share in enacting those laws, which it was their interest as well as duty to maintain.

We hoped that the Commonwealth citizenry would be sufficiently alarmed at the notion of Haluk doppelganger spies that they would pressure their Delegates interactively over the PlaNet, overriding the influence of the Concerns and forcing a review of the dubious treaties.

If the corpus delicti, the body of the crime, has been proven, as required by the laws of the commonwealth, then this case should go to the jury.

But the fairest and most unbiased of historians must confess that there is a large body of evidence to show that into the heads of some of the Dutch leaders, both in the northern republics and in the Cape, there had entered the conception of a single Dutch commonwealth, extending from Cape Town to the Zambesi, in which flag, speech, and law should all be Dutch.

Commonwealth society could not have functioned without an army of Dull Intelligences to oversee routine regulatory and analytical functions.

State House as one of the foremost benefactors of the great educational institutions of the Commonwealth, and as an example of what a generous ambition can accomplish for the humblest child in the Republic.

Cape Breton, in exchange for a petty factory in the East Indies, belonging to a private company, whose existence had been deemed prejudicial to the commonwealth.