What does commonable mean?
"Commonable" is a rare English adjective used almost exclusively in British legal and historical contexts concerning common land. Applied to livestock, it describes an animal — typically a cow, sheep, or horse — that is legally entitled to graze on common ground under traditional rights of pasture. Applied to the land itself, it indicates ground that is subject to such shared grazing rights rather than being enclosed for private use. The word derives from "common", in the sense of shared land held by a community, with the suffix "-able" marking entitlement. It appears most often in discussions of medieval manorial custom, enclosure acts, and modern commons registration, where determining which beasts were commonable could decide the livelihoods of villagers. Though largely obsolete in everyday speech, it survives as precise terminology wherever the history of England's commons is studied.
adjective(Of an animal or other livestock) entitled to be grazed on common land; (of land) subject to common grazing rights.
- Of livestock: entitled by right to graze on common land.
- Of land: open to, or subject to, such common grazing rights.
"The village bylaws specified which cattle were commonable on the heath."
"Under the old manorial customs, only beasts properly commonable could be turned out onto the green."
"The survey recorded every commonable animal in the parish ahead of the enclosure hearings."
Before hedges and fences carved up the countryside, whether your sheep were 'commonable' decided if they could eat for free.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of commonable
Commonable derives from the noun "common", meaning shared land, combined with the suffix "-able" indicating fitness or entitlement. Its roots reach back through Old French "comun" to Latin "communis", meaning shared or public. The word arose in Middle English usage relating to manorial rights of pasture and has remained a specialist legal and historical term ever since.
Related word forms
How commonable is actually used
A rare, technical term found mainly in British legal, historical, and agricultural writing about common land and enclosure. It carries a distinctly archaic flavour in modern prose.
Easily confused with commonable
'Commendable' means worthy of praise, while 'commonable' refers to the right to graze livestock on common land.