commonplace

Etymology

A calque of Latin locus commūnis, referring to a generally applicable literary passage, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὸς τόπος (koinòs tópos).

adj

1. Ordinary; not having any remarkable characteristics.
   "This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man." 1824, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 7, in St. Ronan's Well
   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. 1911, Joseph Conrad, chapter 1, in Under Western Eyes

noun

1. A platitude or cliché.
   Finally he began to mutter some commonplaces which meant nothing particularly. 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 17, in Active Service
   And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness. 1910, Elinor Glyn, chapter 4, in His Hour
2. Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring.
   The smallest commonplace of domestic life, so amiable to the healthy mind, lacerates like a blade. 1988-12-19, William Styron, “Why Primo Levi Need Not Have Died”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Collecting data via transects is a commonplace in biology[.] 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4
3. A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
   Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of common-place. 1710, Jonathan Swift, A Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit
4. A commonplace book.

verb

1. To make a commonplace book.
2. To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.
   I do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the […]historians. 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
3. (obsolete) To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.
   And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness. 1910, Elinor Glyn, chapter 4, in His Hour
   c. January 1620, Francis Bacon, letter to the King For the good that comes of particular and select committees and commissions, I need not commonplace.