Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Commune \Com"mune\, n. [F., fr. commun. See {Common}.]
   1. The commonalty; the common people. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

            In this struggle -- to use the technical words of
            the time -- of the ``commune'', the general mass of
            the inhabitants, against the ``prudhommes'' or
            ``wiser'' few.                        --J. R. Green.

   2. A small territorial district in France under the
      government of a mayor and municipal council; also, the
      inhabitants, or the government, of such a district. See
      {Arrondissement}.

   3. Absolute municipal self-government.

   {The Commune of Paris}, or {The Commune}
      (a) The government established in Paris (1792-94) by a
          usurpation of supreme power on the part of
          representatives chosen by the communes; the period of
          its continuance is known as the ``Reign of Terror.''
      (b) The revolutionary government, modeled on the commune
          of 1792, which the communists, so called, attempted to
          establish in 1871.