WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Com*mu"ni*ty
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [L. communitas: cf. OF. communit?. Cf. Commonalty, and see Common.]
Definition : 1. Common possession or enjoyment; participation; as, a community of goods. The original community of all things. Locke. An unreserved community of thought and feeling. W. Irwing.

2. A body of people having common rights, privileges, or interests, or living in the same place under the same laws and regulations; as, a community of monks. Hence a number of animals living in a common home or with some apparent association of interests. Creatures that in communities exist. Wordsworth.

3. Society at large; a commonwealth or state; a body politic; the public, or people in general. Burdens upon the poorer classes of the community. Hallam.

Note: In this sense, the term should be used with the definite article; as, the interests of the community.

4. Common character; likeness. [R.] The essential community of nature between organic growth and inorganic growth. H. Spencer.

5. Commonness; frequency. [Obs.] Eyes . . . sick and blunted with community. Shak.

pl. Communities.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913