ˈkämənˌwelth, | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English commen wealthe, from commen, commun common + wealthe, welthe wealth (well-being)
1. : public welfare : wealth held in common
2.
a. : a whole body of people united by common consent to form a nation, state, or politically organized community
b. : a state especially conceived as a body politic founded on law and united by compact or by tacit agreement of the people for the common good
c. : a state in which the supreme power resides with the people and their representatives : republic
the commonwealth established in England under Oliver Cromwell
3.
a. : a state of the U.S.
commonwealths joining the Union after the Civil War
— used in the official designations of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in preference to the word state
b. : a self-governing autonomous state ; usually : a former colony that is associated by treaty or agreement in a loose political federation with a mother country or former colonial power
Commonwealth of Australia
c. : an association of self-governing autonomous states united by a common allegiance to a mother country and forming by treaty or agreement a loose confederation having a somewhat common political and cultural background
a commonwealth of nations
the British Commonwealth
4.
a. : a group of persons conceived of as united by common interests
the commonwealth of artists or of literary men
b. : the range of interests uniting such a group
the commonwealth of learning