Com·mune n.
 1. The commonalty; the common people. [Obs.]
    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.

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