A common; public pasture ground.
These open spaces in London, some of which cover thousands of acres, are the remains of common land which was not enclosed by the Enclosure Acts of the 18th and early 19th centuries, when suburbs such as Mitcham, Tooting, Streatham, Clapham, Wimbledon, Putney, Wandsworth, and Barnes were still country villages. People used to have the right to graze animals and collect firewood and wild food on the commons, but the need for conservation of these lovely open and still quite wild spaces has made it necessary to revoke these ancient rights.
a pasture subject to common use
a public resource, open for all to share
a resource that is available to everyone (or everyone in some community) without permission
a resource whose costs are shared by many but whose benefits can be captured by just a few -- usually those who are first to use it or who try to take the most
Originally referred to lands in medieval Europe that were owned by townships rather than by private individuals. Now used to include any exploitable resource that is not privately owned. Sometimes applied to "open resources" that are neither privately owned nor regulated by a country or agency.
(1) Land previously available to all for use, but not ownership, largely removed from public access in a process commenced by the enclosure acts of the 17th century.(2) Cultural resources unfettered by copyright, increasingly barred to public access, hence the phrase "The Second Enclosure Movement" (see: www.law.duke.edu/pd/papers/boyle.pdf).
These were areas of land where people had the right to graze their animals.
The commons are resources over which there can be no right of exclusion, and are therefore resources which cannot be converted into property. Historically, this has referred to animal grazing rights, although recently knowledge, language and creativity as well as genetic material and ‘human rights’ (amongst other cultural products) are being reconfigured as legally defined commons.
The commons are resources or goods held in common, that are owned by all and could not or should not be turned into property or diminished. Air is a good example of a commons.
The word ‘commonsâ€(tm) is currently used to describe resources that a community deems to be freely accessible to any member of that group. The nature of commons varies between communities, but often include cultural and natural resources. Historically, rights of common have frequently included common pasture (right to graze cattle or other animals on the common land) and common piscary (the right to fish). The concept of the commons dates back to Roman law when property was divided into categories: ‘Res privataeâ€(tm) things that individuals could own, ‘Res publicaeâ€(tm) facilities supplied by governing bodies and the State, and ‘Res communesâ€(tm) which included things common to all such as air and water. Also see Wikipedia Definition: Commons
In England and Wales, a common (or common land) is a piece of land over which other people—often neighbouring landowners—could exercise one of a number of traditional rights, such as allowing their cattle to graze upon it. The older texts use the word "common" to denote any such right, but more modern usage is to refer to particular rights of common, and to reserve the word "common" for the land over which the rights are exercised. By extension, the term "commons" has come to be applied to other resources which a community has rights or access to.