Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: comuneté, from Latin communitas, from communis; COMMON1

community

 noun
     
com‧mu‧ni‧ty S1 W1 plural communities
1 [C, also + plural verb British English] the people who live in the same area, town etc:
The new arts centre will serve the whole community.
community relations/affairs/needs etc
We meet once a month to discuss community problems.
community groups/leaders etc
Community leaders met to discuss the proposed golf course.
community spirit (=the desire to be friendly with and help other people who live in the same community)
2 [countable] a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race etc:
the gay/black/Asian etc community
the gay community in San Francisco
3

the community

society and the people in it:
The trend is towards reintegrating mentally ill people into the community.
the international community (=all the countries of the world)
The President appealed to the international community for aid for the flood victims.
4

sense of community

the feeling that you belong to a community
5 [countable] a group of plants or animals that live in the same environment:
Communities of otters are slowly returning to British rivers.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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