1an independent state or community, especially a democratic republic.
an aggregate or grouping of states or other bodies:a union or commonwealth of democratic, self-governing countries
a community of shared interests in a non-political field:the Christian commonwealththe commonwealth of letters
a self-governing unit voluntarily grouped with the US, such as Puerto Rico:the island became a commonwealth of the United States in 1986
a formal title of some of the states of the US, especially Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
the title of the federated Australian states.
(the Commonwealth) the republican period of government in Britain between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660.
2 (the Commonwealth, in full the Commonwealth of Nations) an international association consisting of the UK together with states that were previously part of the British Empire, and dependencies.
