Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM'MONS, n. [plur.]

1. The common people, who inherit or possess no honors or titles; the vulgar. – Chaucer. Shak. Dryden.
2. In England, the lower house of Parliament, consisting of the representatives of cities, boroughs and counties, chosen by men possessed of the property or qualifications required by law. This body is called the House of Commons. The House of Representatives in North Carolina bears the same name.
3. Common grounds; land possessed or used by two or more persons in common. [See Common.]
4. Food provided at a common table, as in colleges, where many persons eat at the same table or in the same hall. Their commons, though but coarse, were nothing scant. – Dryden. Doctors Commons, in London, a college founded by Dr. Harvey, for the professors of the civil law, where the civilians common together. The house was consumed in the great fire in 1666, but rebuilt in 1672. To this college belong thirty-four proctors. – Encyc.