COMMUNE

commune

(noun) a body of people or families living together and sharing everything

commune

(noun) the smallest administrative district of several European countries

commune

(verb) communicate intimately with; be in a state of heightened, intimate receptivity; “He seemed to commune with nature”

commune, communicate

(verb) receive Communion, in the Catholic church

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Noun

commune (countable and uncountable, plural communes)

A small community, often rural, whose members share in the ownership of property, and in the division of labour; the members of such a community.

A local political division in many European countries.

(obsolete) The commonalty; the common people.

(uncountable, obsolete) communion; sympathetic intercourse or conversation between friends

Etymology 2

Verb

commune (third-person singular simple present communes, present participle communing, simple past and past participle communed)

To converse together with sympathy and confidence; to interchange sentiments or feelings; to take counsel.

(intransitive, followed by with) To communicate (with) spiritually; to be together (with); to contemplate or absorb.

(Christianity, intransitive) To receive the communion.

Source: Wiktionary

Com*mune", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Communed; p. pr. & vb. n. Communing.] Etym: [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.

Definition: Communion; sympathetic intercourse or conversation between friends. For days of happy commune dead. Tennyson.

Com"mune, n. Etym: [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 terrotorial 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition