What does communally mean?
"Communally" is an adverb describing actions, resources, or arrangements that are shared by a community as a whole rather than held or carried out by individuals. It derives from "communal," the adjective relating to a commune or community, and ultimately traces back to the Latin "communis," meaning common or shared. The word appears most often in discussions of land tenure, housing, food preparation, and decision-making: farmland may be worked communally, meals eaten communally, and property owned communally. It carries broadly positive connotations of cooperation, mutual support, and shared responsibility, though it can also be used neutrally in sociological or anthropological descriptions of collective systems. Its natural opposite is "individually" or "privately." Because it compresses a whole social arrangement into a single adverb, "communally" is a precise and economical choice whenever the emphasis falls on what people do together rather than apart.
adverbIn a way that is shared by or involves a community as a whole; done collectively rather than individually.
- In a manner shared by, involving, or belonging to the community as a whole rather than to individuals.
"The village's farmland was managed communally, with every family contributing labour at harvest time."
"Meals were prepared and eaten communally in the large dining hall."
"The building's rooftop garden is tended communally by all the residents."
From medieval villages sharing ovens to modern co-housing blocks, "communally" names the oldest alternative to doing everything alone — one word for everything we own, eat, or decide together.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of communally
"Communally" is formed from the adjective "communal" plus the adverbial suffix "-ly," with "communal" deriving from the Latin "communis," meaning common, public, or shared. The Latin root also gives English words such as "community," "commune," and "communicate," all built on the idea of things held or exchanged in common. The word entered English alongside its base adjective, which became established in English in the early nineteenth century.
Related word forms
How communally is actually used
Neutral register, common in formal writing about property, housing, sociology, and anthropology. Often carries positive connotations of cooperation and sharing, though it can also appear in neutral or critical descriptions of collective ownership systems.
Easily confused with communally
"Commonly" means frequently or ordinarily, while "communally" means shared by a community — despite their similar spellings they describe entirely different things.