common good

noun

1. the advantage or benefit of all people in society or in a group:

   In spite of our differences, we shall work for the common good.

common good

noun

1. the part of the property of a Scottish burgh, in the form of land or funds, that is at the disposal of the community

Word History and Origins

Origin of common good¹

First recorded in 1350–1400

Example Sentences

They are more interested in punishing other people than in advancing the common good.

From Salon

If religion is a code of personal ethics, they argue, then it is also a calling to put those ethics to use for the common good.

From Salon

The Enlightenment notion of promoting “the common good” predates even the United States itself.

From Salon

There were political calculations “for an elected official with programs he hoped to implement for the common good,” Brown would say, decades later.

From Los Angeles Times

Public time based on notions of equality, the common good, and justice fades into the dustbin of a white-washed history.

From Salon