Listen to this articlegòng míng 共名
General Name
用以概括同类事物的名称。“共名”是荀子（前313？—前238）所使用的一种名称类别，与“别名”相对。名用以指称实。具有相同属性的同一类事物，可以用一个“共名”来加以概括。具有不同“共名”的事物类别之间若具有相同属性，可以用更高层级的“共名”来加以概括。如此类推，最高层级的“共名”称为“大共名”。
A general name is used to refer to everything in the same category. It is a term used by Xunzi (313?-238 BC) and its opposite is “distinct name.” A name should denote the nature of a thing. Things with similar properties can be grouped together under a “general name.” These, together with other things with different general names but still sharing some common properties, can have a higher-level “general name.” The highest-level “general name” is called “broad general name.”
引例 Citations：
◎故万物虽众，有时而欲偏（biàn）举之，故谓之物。物也者，大共名也。推而共之，共则有共，至于无共然后止。（《荀子·正名》）
（因此万物虽然繁多，有时想要全面地概括它们，就称之为“物”。“物”就是最大的“共名”。推演而寻求“共名”，“共名”之上还有更高层级的“共名”，一直到无法再推出更高层级的“共名”为止。）
There are so many things around us, and sometimes we wish to speak of them all in the same breath, so we call them “things.” “Thing” is a broad general term. We extend this generalization even more and subsume the general under something more general, until there is nothing more general. (Xunzi)
