4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Commonwealth  \Com"mon*wealth`\  (?;  277),  n.  [Common  +  wealth 
  well-being.] 
  1.  A  state;  a  body  politic  consisting  of  a  certain  number  of 
  men,  united,  by  compact  or  tacit  agreement,  under  one  form 
  of  government  and  system  of  laws. 
 
  The  trappings  of  a  monarchy  would  set  up  an  ordinary 
  commonwealth.  --Milton. 
 
  Note:  This  term  is  applied  to  governments  which  are 
  considered  as  free  or  popular,  but  rarely,  or 
  improperly,  to  an  absolute  government.  The  word 
  signifies,  strictly,  the  common  well-being  or 
  happiness;  and  hence  a  form  of  government  in  which  the 
  general  welfare  is  regarded  rather  than  the  welfare  of 
  any  class. 
 
  2.  The  whole  body  of  people  in  a  state;  the  public. 
 
  3.  (Eng.  Hist.)  Specifically,  the  form  of  government 
  established  on  the  death  of  Charles  I.,  in  1649,  which 
  existed  under  Oliver  Cromwell  and  his  son  Richard,  ending 
  with  the  abdication  of  the  latter  in  1659. 
 
  Syn:  State;  realm;  republic. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  commonwealth 
  n  1:  the  official  name  of  some  states  in  the  United  States 
  (Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  and 
  Kentucky)  and  associated  territories  (Puerto  Rico) 
  2:  a  politically  organized  body  of  people  under  a  single 
  government;  "the  state  has  elected  a  new  president"  [syn: 
  {state},  {nation},  {country},  {land},  {res  publica},  {body 
  politic}] 
  3:  a  political  system  governed  by  the  people  or  their 
  representatives  [syn:  {democracy},  {republic}]  [ant:  {autocracy}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Commonwealth,  VA  (CDP,  FIPS  18792) 
  Location:  38.07462  N,  78.48746  W 
  Population  (1990):  5538  (2584  housing  units) 
  Area:  3.1  sq  km  (land),  0.0  sq  km  (water) 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  COMMONWEALTH,  n.  An  administrative  entity  operated  by  an  incalculable 
  multitude  of  political  parasites,  logically  active  but  fortuitously 
  efficient. 
 
  This  commonwealth's  capitol's  corridors  view, 
  So  thronged  with  a  hungry  and  indolent  crew 
  Of  clerks,  pages,  porters  and  all  attaches 
  Whom  rascals  appoint  and  the  populace  pays 
  That  a  cat  cannot  slip  through  the  thicket  of  shins 
  Nor  hear  its  own  shriek  for  the  noise  of  their  chins. 
  On  clerks  and  on  pages,  and  porters,  and  all 
  Misfortune  attend  and  disaster  befall! 
  May  life  be  to  them  a  succession  of  hurts; 
  May  fleas  by  the  bushel  inhabit  their  shirts; 
  May  aches  and  diseases  encamp  in  their  bones, 
  Their  lungs  full  of  tubercles,  bladders  of  stones; 
  May  microbes,  bacilli,  their  tissues  infest, 
  And  tapeworms  securely  their  bowels  digest; 
  May  corn-cobs  be  snared  without  hope  in  their  hair, 
  And  frequent  impalement  their  pleasure  impair. 
  Disturbed  be  their  dreams  by  the  awful  discourse 
  Of  audible  sofas  sepulchrally  hoarse, 
  By  chairs  acrobatic  and  wavering  floors  -- 
  The  mattress  that  kicks  and  the  pillow  that  snores! 
  Sons  of  cupidity,  cradled  in  sin! 
  Your  criminal  ranks  may  the  death  angel  thin, 
  Avenging  the  friend  whom  I  couldn't  work  in 
  K.Q. 
 
 

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