(initial capital letter) a group of sovereign states and their dependencies associated by their own choice and linked with common objectives and interests: the British Commonwealth.
(initial capital letter) a federation of states: the Commonwealth of Australia.
4.
(initial capital letter) a self-governing territory associated with the U.S.: official designation of Puerto Rico.
5.
(initial capital letter) English History. the English government from the abolition of the monarchy in 1649 until the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, sometimes extended to include the restoration of Charles II in 1660.
6.
(initial capital letter) the official designation (rather than “State”) of four states of the U.S.: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
7.
any group of persons united by some common interest.
8.
the whole body of people of a nation or state; the body politic.
9.
a state in which the supreme power is held by the people; a republican or democratic state.
The people of a nation or state; the body politic.
A nation or state governed by the people; a republic.
Commonwealth
Used to refer to some U.S. states, namely, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Used to refer to a self-governing, autonomous political unit voluntarily associated with the United States, namely, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands.
often Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations.
The English state and government from the death of Charles I in 1649 to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, including the Protectorate of 1653 to 1659.
1470, "public welfare, general good" (from common + wealth); meaning "the state" is attested from 1513; applied specifically to the government of England in the period 1649-1660.
the official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico)
2.
a politically organized body of people under a single government; "the state has elected a new president"; "African nations"; "students who had come to the nation's capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an industrialized land" [syn: state]
3.
a world organization of autonomous states that are united in allegiance to a central power but are not subordinate to it or to one another
4.
a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them [syn: democracy]
A government established in Britain and Ireland in 1649, after the execution of King Charles I. It was in the form of a republic, under the leadership of the parliament. Oliver Cromwell soon assumed the supreme power in the Commonwealth and was given the title Lord Protector. After Cromwell's death in 1658, the Commonwealth quickly lost power, and the Restoration of the monarchy followed in 1660.
Commonwealth, VA (CDP, FIPS 18792) Location: 38.07462 N, 78.48746 W Population (1990): 5538 (2584 housing units) Area: 3.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Com"mon*wealth`\ (?; 277), n. [Common + wealth well-being.]1. A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws. The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth. --Milton. Note: This term is applied to governments which are considered as free or popular, but rarely, or improperly, to an absolute government. The word signifies, strictly, the common well-being or happiness; and hence, a form of government in which the general welfare is regarded rather than the welfare of any class. 2. The whole body of people in a state; the public. 3. (Eng. Hist.) Specifically, the form of government established on the death of Charles I., in 1649, which existed under Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard, ending with the abdication of the latter in 1659. Syn: State; realm; republic.
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