Common

[L. Fr. comon, comen, comun; L. Lat- communia, q. v.] A profit which a man hath in the land of another; as to feed his beasts, to catch fish, to dig turf, to cut wood, or the like.

2 Bl. Com. 32. 2 Steph. Com. 3.

A right or privilege which one or more persons claim

to take or use some part of that which another man's lands, waters, woods, <fec., naturally produce, without having an absolute property in such lands, waters, woods, he.

1 Crah Vs Real Prop. 267, 268, § 268.

A privilege which a man may enjoy of taking a profit

in common with many, in the land of another, as to feed his beasts, <&c. Hoscoe's Real Act. 366. — ^A right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons,* The radical meaning of the term common, in all its appU(^ations, is — something enjoyed by more than one person; properly, by many together. Co. Litt. 122 a. Savage, C. J., 10 Wendel Vs R. 639, 647. Common, in English law, is an mcorporeal right which lies in grant, originally commencing on some agreement between lords and tenants, which by time has been formed into prescription, and continues good, although there be no deed or instrument to prove the original contract. 4 Co. 37. 1 Crabb's Real Prop. 268, § 268. It is chiefly ^of four sorts; common of pasture, of piscary, of turbary, and of estovers, (qq. V.) It is little known or used^in this country, and probably does not exist in any of the northern or western parts of the United States which have been settled since.the revolution. 3 Kent's Com. 404. The term, however, is frequently used to denote a space or tract of ground in a town or other municipal district, set apart for the public use of the inhabitants. 2 Hilliard's Real Prop. 77. See U. S. Digest and Supplemint, Common. As to the etymology of the word, the. Lat. communia is derived by Bracton from cum, with, and una, together, or by transposition, from una, and cum, the word alio (another) or aliis (others) being understood. Bract, fol. 208, 222. Whatever may be said of the correctness of this derivation, it serves to show with great force the original meaning of the term, as deriving its name from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimant and other commoners entitled to the same right. 2 Steph. Com. 3. Lord Coke says it is so called because it is common to many. Co. Litt. 122 a. Cowell applies the term to the land or water itself of which the use is common to this or that town, &c. And hence, no doubt, the popular meaning of common, as a waste or unenclosed ground; that having been the kind of ground originally subject to the right. 2 Steph. Com. 4.