COMMONWEALTH

commonwealth. 1. A nation, state, or other political unit <the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania>. [Cases: States  1. C.J.S. States §§ 2, 16.] 2. A political unit that has local autonomy but is voluntarily united with the United States <Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are commonwealths>. Cf. DEPENDENCY(1); INSULAR AREA; TERRITORY(2).3. A loose association of countries that recognize one sovereign <the British Com-monwealth>. • In this context, in Great Britain, the term British has been dropped from British Commonwealth; BrE speakers refer simply to the Commonwealth. — Abbr. Commw.; comm. 4. The central (federal) power in Australia. — Abbr. (in sense 4) Cwth. [Blacks Law 8th]