Communal

How to spell communal

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce communal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does communal mean?

1. adjectiveShared by or belonging to all members of a community or group, rather than to individuals.

Communal in a sentence

• The apartment block has a communal garden that every resident can use.

• Residents pay a small fee toward the upkeep of the communal laundry room.

Where does communal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin communis, which meant 'shared by all' or 'common to many', itself thought to combine com- 'together' with an old root related to munus 'duty' or 'gift', so the literal sense was something like 'sharing obligations together'. From communis Latin formed communalis, describing things held in common, and this passed into French as communal before reaching English in the 1800s. The word arrived alongside a cluster of relatives that share the same root, including 'common', 'community', and 'commune', which all carry the idea of things shared among a group. In English it first described property or land owned by a whole community, then broadened to anything used or done collectively. The spelling trap is the single 'm' in the suffix and the double 'm' from com-, plus the unstressed ending that can sound like '-ul' but is written '-al', mirroring 'common' before it.

How the word is built

• commun- (from Latin communis: shared, common)
• -al (adjective suffix)