A common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, trivial name, trivial epithet, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism. A so-called "common name" is not always one that is commonly used.
Sometimes common names are created by authorities on one particular subject, in an attempt to make it possible for members of the general public (including interested parties such as fishermen, farmers etc.) to refer to a species of organism without needing to be able to memorise or pronounce the Latinized scientific name. Creating common names can also be an attempt to standardize the use of common names which can sometimes vary a great deal between one part of a country and another as well as between one country and another, even where the same language is spoken in both places.
Read more about Common Name: Use As Part of Folk Taxonomy, Common Names and The Binomial System, Geographic Range of Use, Constraints and Problems, Coining Common Names
Famous quotes containing the word common:
“The mother’s battle for her child—with sickness, with poverty, with war, with all the forces of exploitation and callousness that cheapen human life—needs to become a common human battle, waged in love and in the passion for survival.”
—Adrienne Rich (20th century)