Universal vs Commonplace - What's the difference?
universal | commonplace | Related terms |
Of or pertaining to the universe.
Common to all members of a group or class.
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*
Common to all society; world-wide
Cosmic; unlimited; vast; infinite
Useful for many purposes, e.g., universal wrench .
(philosophy) A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.
*
* {{quote-book, year=1970, title=Speech acts, author=John R. Searle
, passage=We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals : e.g., to distinguish such expressions as "Everest" and "this chair" from "the number three", "the color red" and "drunkenness".
Ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics.
* 1824 , Sir (Walter Scott), , ch. 7:
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, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1
, passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}
* 1911 , (w), (Under Western Eyes) , ch. 1:
A platitude or .
* 1899 , , Active Service , ch. 17:
* 1910 , , His Hour , ch. 4:
Something that is ordinary.
* 1891 , , "A Case of Identity" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes :
A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
* Jonathan Swift
A commonplace book.
To make a commonplace book.
To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.
* Felton
(obsolete) To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.
* 1910 , , His Hour , ch. 4:
Universal is a related term of commonplace.
As adjectives the difference between universal and commonplace
is that universal is of or pertaining to the universe while commonplace is ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics.As nouns the difference between universal and commonplace
is that universal is (philosophy) a characteristic or property that particular things have in common while commonplace is a platitude or.As a verb commonplace is
to make a commonplace book.universal
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- She achieved universal fame.
Derived terms
* universalise, universalize * universal quantifierAntonyms
* nonuniversalSee also
* (wikipedia "universal") * general * globalExternal links
* *Noun
(en noun)citation
See also
* particularExternal links
* *The Medieval Problem of Universals- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ----
commonplace
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- "This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man."
- I could get hold of nothing but of some commonplace phrases, those futile phrases that give the measure of our impotence before each other's trials.
Synonyms
* routine * undistinguished * unexceptional * See alsoAntonyms
* distinguished * inimitable * uniqueNoun
(en noun)- Finally he began to mutter some commonplaces which meant nothing particularly.
- And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
- "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence."
- Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace .
Verb
(commonplac)- I do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the historians.
- And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
- (Francis Bacon)