different between common vs casual

English

Etymology

From Middle English comun, from Anglo-Norman comun, from Old French comun (rare in the Gallo-Romance languages, but reinforced as a Carolingian calque of Proto-West Germanic *gemeini, gamaini (“common”) in Old French), from Latin comm?nis (“common, public, general”), from Proto-Indo-European *?om-moy-ni- (“held in common”). Displaced native Middle English imene, ?em?ne (“common, general, universal”) (from Old English ?em?ne (“common, universal”)), Middle English mene, m?ne (“mean, common”) (also from Old English ?em?ne (“common, universal”)), Middle English samen, somen (“in common, together”) (from Old English samen (“together”)). Doublet of gmina.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: k?m'?n, IPA^(key): /?k?m?n/
• (General American) enPR: k?m'?n, IPA^(key): /?k?m?n/
• (obsolete) enPR: k?m'?n, IPA^(key): /?k?m?n/
• Rhymes: -?m?n
• Hyphenation: com?mon

Adjective

common (comparative commoner or more common, superlative commonest or most common)

1. Mutual; shared by more than one.

2. Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.

3. Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.

   ' Commoner' used to be commoner, but 'more common' is now more common.

4. Simple, ordinary or vulgar.
   • 1893, Florian Cajori, A History of Mathematics

     If it be asked wherein the utility of some modern extensions of mathematics lies, it must be acknowledged that it is at present difficult to see how they are ever to become applicable to questions of common life or physical science.

   • 1768, Arthur Murphy, Zenobia

     above the vulgar flight of common souls

   • She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.

5. (grammar) In some languages, particularly Germanic languages, of the gender originating from the coalescence of the masculine and feminine categories of nouns.
6. (grammar) Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.
7. Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal, i.e., common name vs. scientific name.
8. (obsolete) Profane; polluted.
9. (obsolete) Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

Synonyms

• (mutual): mutual, shared; see also Thesaurus:joint
• (usual): normal, ordinary, standard, usual; see also Thesaurus:common
• (occurring in large numbers or in a large quantity): widespread; see also Thesaurus:widespread
• (ordinary): common-or-garden, everyday; see also Thesaurus:normal
• (grammar, gender of coalescence of masculine of feminine): epicene
• (grammar, antonym of proper): appellative
• (vernacular): common parlance

Antonyms

• (mutual): personal, individual, peculiar; see also Thesaurus:sole
• (usual): special, exceptional, rare, uncommon; see also Thesaurus:strange
• (occurring in large numbers or in a large quantity): rare, uncommon, few and far between
• (ordinary): exceptional, extraordinary, noteworthy, special
• (vernacular): technical term

See also

• (grammar, gender of coalescence of masculine of feminine): feminine, masculine, neuter

Translations

Noun

common (plural commons)

1. Mutual good, shared by more than one.
2. A tract of land in common ownership; common land.
3. The people; the community.
4. (law) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.

Translations

Verb

common (third-person singular simple present commons, present participle commoning, simple past and past participle commoned)

1. (obsolete) To communicate (something).
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans, Bible, Luke XXII:

     Then entred Satan into Judas, whose syr name was iscariot (which was of the nombre off the twelve) and he went his waye, and commened with the hye prestes and officers, how he wolde betraye hym vnto them.

2. (obsolete) To converse, talk.
   • 1568-1569, Richard Grafton, Chronicle

     Capitaine generall of Flaunders, which amiably enterteyned the sayd Duke, and after they had secretly commoned of.

3. (obsolete) To have sex.
4. (obsolete) To participate.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Thomas More to this entry?)

5. (obsolete) To have a joint right with others in common ground.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

6. (obsolete) To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Derived terms

References

• common at OneLook Dictionary Search
• common in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• common in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Alternative forms

• casuall (obsolete)
• (shortening, informal) cazh

Etymology

From Middle French casuel, from Late Latin c?su?lis (“happening by chance”), from Latin c?sus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”) (whence English cadence).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ka?u?l/, /?ka?ju?l/, /?kazju?l/, /?ka??l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?kæ?u?l/, /?kæ?w?l/, /?kæ??l/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?k????l/, /?k???l/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /-uæl/
• Hyphenation: ca?su?al, cas?ual, casu?al

Adjective

casual (comparative more casual, superlative most casual)

1. Happening by chance.

   • casual breaks, in the general system

2. Coming without regularity; occasional or incidental.

   • a constant habit, rather than a casual gesture

3. Employed irregularly.

4. Careless.
   • 2007, Nick Holland, The Girl on the Bus (page 117)

     I removed my jacket and threw it casually over the back of the settee.

5. Happening or coming to pass without design.
   • 2012, Jeff Miller, Grown at Glen Garden: Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and the Little Texas Golf Course that Propelled Them to Stardom

     Hogan assumed the entire creek bed was to be played as a casual hazard, moved his ball out and assessed himself a one-stroke penalty.

6. Informal, relaxed.
7. Designed for informal or everyday use.

Synonyms

• (happening by chance): accidental, fortuitous, incidental, occasional, random; see also Thesaurus:accidental
• (happening or coming to pass without design): unexpected
• (relaxed; everyday use): informal

Antonyms

• (happening by chance): inevitable, necessary
• (happening or coming to pass without design): expected, scheduled
• (relaxed; everyday use): ceremonial, formal

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

casual (plural casuals)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A worker who is only working for a company occasionally, not as its permanent employee.
2. A soldier temporarily at a place of duty, usually en route to another place of duty.
3. (Britain) A member of a group of football hooligans who wear expensive designer clothing to avoid police attention; see casual (subculture).
4. One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant.
5. (video games, informal, derogatory) A player of casual games.

6. (fandom slang) A person whose engagement with media is relaxed or superficial.
   • 1972, Lee C. Garrison, "The Needs of Motion Picture Audiences", California Management Review, Volume 15, Issue 2, Winter 1972, page 149:

     Casuals outnumbered regulars in the art-house audience two to one.

   • 2010, Jennifer Gillan, Television and New Media: Must-Click TV, page 16:

     Most often, when a series is marketed toward casuals, the loyals feel that their interests and needs are not being met.

   • 2018, E. J. Nielsen, "The Gay Elephant Meta in the Room: Sherlock and the Johnlock Conspiracy", in Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities (ed. Joseph Brennan), page 91:

     Treating a gay relationship as a puzzle that must be pursued by the clever viewers and hidden from “casuals” until a narrative reveal at the eleventh hour seems antithetical to the idea of normalized representation that TJLCers claim as the main reason they want Johnlock to be canon, […]

7. (Britain, dated) A tramp.

Translations

Related terms

• casualty
• case

References

• casual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Calusa, casula, causal

Catalan

Adjective

casual (masculine and feminine plural casuals)

1. casual
2. unplanned

Derived terms

• casualitat
• casualment

Portuguese

Adjective

casual m or f (plural casuais, comparable)

1. casual (happening by chance)

   Synonym: fortuito

2. casual (coming without regularity)

   Synonym: ocasional

3. casual (designed for informal or everyday use)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

casual (plural casuales)

1. casual
2. accidental
3. coincidental, chance

Derived terms

• casualmente

Descendants

• ? Cebuano: kaswal

Further reading

• “casual” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.