Roots of the Word "Community"

The word community comes from the Latin communis, meaning "common, public, shared by all or many."

<--(East Cleveland, OH, Euclid Avenue in 1951)

The Latin term communitatus from which the English word "community" comes, is comprised of three elements, "Com-" - a Latin prefix meaning with or together, "-Munis-" - ultimately Proto-Indo-European in origin, it has been suggested that it means "the changes or exchanges that link" and "-tatus" a Latin suffix suggesting diminutive, small, intimate or local.

German sociologist, Ferdinand Tönnies, presented a concise differentiation between the terms "community" (gemeinschaft) and "society" (gesellschaft). In his 1887 work, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, Tönnies argued that "community" is perceived to be a tighter and more cohesive social entity within the context of the larger society, due to the presence of a "unity of will." He added that family and kinship were the perfect expressions of community but that other shared characteristics, such as place or belief, could also result in gemeinschaft.

If the sense of community exists, both freedom and security exist as well. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as social capital.

Social capital is defined by Harvard University Political Scientist Robert D. Putnam as "the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity)."