Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Commune?

\Com*mune"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Communed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Communing}.] [OF. communier, fr. L. communicare to communicate, fr. communis common. See {Common}, and cf. {Communicate}.] 1. To converse together with sympathy and confidence; to interchange sentiments or feelings; to take counsel. I would commune with you of such things That want no ear but yours. --Shak. 2. To receive the communion; to partake of the eucharist or Lord's supper. To commune under both kinds. --Bp. Burnet. {To commune with one's self} or {one's heart}, to think; to reflect; to meditate.
\Com"mune\, n. Communion; sympathetic intercourse or conversation between friends. For days of happy commune dead. --Tennyson.
\Com"mune\, n. [F., fr. commun. See {Common}.] 1. The commonalty; the common people. [Obs.] --Chaucer. In this struggle -- to use the technical words of the time -- of the ``commune'', the general mass of the inhabitants, against the ``prudhommes'' or ``wiser'' few. --J. R. Green. 2. A small territorial district in France under the government of a mayor and municipal council; also, the inhabitants, or the government, of such a district. See {Arrondissement}. 3. Absolute municipal self-government. {The Commune of Paris}, or {The Commune} (a) The government established in Paris (1792-94) by a usurpation of supreme power on the part of representatives chosen by the communes; the period of its continuance is known as the ``Reign of Terror.'' (b) The revolutionary government, modeled on the commune of 1792, which the communists, so called, attempted to establish in 1871.