in common
prep_phraseEtymology Possibly a calque of French en commun. Compare Italian in comune, Spanish en común and Portuguese em comum.
1
Shared with one or more others.
- My cousin and I have a grandfather and grandmother in common.
2
Held in joint possession.
3
Possessing similar or identical qualities.
- I hate being alone with my boss as we have nothing in common.
- Brittany is a relatively barren and sparsely populated land, and had it not been for tourists, the fishing and the cultivation of potatoes, the life of the people would have been hard indeed. It has, in fact, much in common with Western Ireland.1957 February 23, P. B. Whitehouse, “Narrow Gauge from St. Brieuc”, in Railway Magazine, page 85:
3 more examples
- The closest affinities of the Jubulaceae are with the Lejeuneaceae. The two families share in common: (a) elaters usually 1-spiral, trumpet-shaped and fixed to the capsule valves, distally[…]1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 4:
- You'll say, we've got nothing in common No common ground to start from And we're falling apart1993 October 13, Todd Pipes, “Breakfast at Tiffany's”, in Home, performed by Deep Blue Something, published 11 July 1995:
- Shepard: No, you were right. There is something between us. Liara: I knew it! And I knew you felt it, too. But... does this not seem rather strange? Why do I feel so close to you? Liara: We have only known each other a short time. We are from two different species. We have almost nothing in common. This makes no sense!2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1: