common noun
noun
: a noun that may occur with limiting modifiers (such as a or an, some, every, and my) and that designates any one of a class of beings or things
Examples of common noun in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jacob believed that the capitalization of common nouns was an inorganic import and did away with it, a choice that inspired parodies in the German press.
—
Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
But perhaps even worse is the alternate fashion of just using common nouns as names, for example, Rust, Ruby, and Scheme.
—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Sep. 2023
Surprisingly, the team’s results suggest that at least 10 to 30 quantifiably different concept variants exist for even common nouns such as penguin.
—Simon Makin, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2023
His proper name would become a common noun, a contemptible exclamation and novel profanity.
—Jack Hitt, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
His landscapes are a litany of primary colors and common nouns: blue sky, green grass.
—Garth Risk Hallberg, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2017
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Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
But perhaps even worse is the alternate fashion of just using common nouns as names, for example, Rust, Ruby, and Scheme.
—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Sep. 2023
Surprisingly, the team’s results suggest that at least 10 to 30 quantifiably different concept variants exist for even common nouns such as penguin.
—Simon Makin, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2023
His proper name would become a common noun, a contemptible exclamation and novel profanity.
—Jack Hitt, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
His landscapes are a litany of primary colors and common nouns: blue sky, green grass.
—Garth Risk Hallberg, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Common noun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/common%20noun. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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