commonwealth

From common (“public”) +‎ wealth (“well-being”). From c. 1450 as common wele (commonweal). In the form common-wealth (common welthe) from c. 1520, used by Tyndale in the sense "secular society" in particular, for which other authors preferred publike weal. Also from the 1520s treated as a synonym or loan-translation of res publica (republic) (Rollison 2017:67f).

Pronunciation

• (Canada, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑmənˌwɛlθ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔmənˌwɛlθ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmənˌwelθ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmənˌwɛlθ/

Noun

commonwealth (plural commonwealths)

1. (obsolete) The well-being of a community.
2. The entirety of a (secular) society, a polity, a state. [ quotations ▼]
3. Republic. Often capitalized, as Commonwealth. [ quotations ▼]