Definition of "commonweal" []

• The public good or welfare. (noun)
• Archaic A commonwealth or republic. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "When you understand Illinois politics, Obama’s emphasis on “bipartisanship” takes on a sinister air, since in Illinois the central faultline undermining the commonweal is not Republican vs. Democrat but Politician vs. Public."
• "Together, communities are greater when the commonweal is the central concern."
• "Indeed, this rejection of the idea of socially and economically significant State intervention in the affairs of the commonweal is the very essence of the ideology of the Whigs, whether neo-Catholic or non-Catholic."