MEANING
A shared feature or underlying similarity linking people, things, or situations.
Use it for
identifying what otherwise different cases share; finding a basis for comparison across groups; distinguishing partial overlap from complete equivalenceIdentifies what is shared without implying that two cases are identical in every respect. Academic functions: Comparison / Contrast.
Words that belong together
- commonalities between cases
- commonality of experience
- identify commonalities
On the page
The comparison reveals commonalities between movements with different political aims.
Commonality of experience did not eliminate differences in how participants interpreted the event.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- commonality
Usage notes
Countable or uncountable: commonality, commonalities. A commonality is a shared feature; commonality of experience names a shared quality. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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