[f. prec.; senses 1–3 from the sb., sense 4 from the adj.]
1. trans. To extract ‘common places’ from; to arrange under or reduce to general heads; to enter in a commonplace-book.
a. 1656. Hales, Gold. Rem. (1688), 352. The custom … hitherto, was commonplacing a thing at the first original very plain and simple.
a. 1740. Felton (J.). I do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the historians.
1837–9. Hallam, Hist. Lit., II. II. i. 47. To commonplace all extant Latin authors.
1860. Lowndes’ Bibl. Man., 1259, s.v. M. Kempe, In this work the author has commonplaced succinctly … above 1600 writers of divinity.
1887. Illust. Lond. News, 12 March, 282. When … you come on a passage … worthy of being commonplaced, copy it legibly in your commonplace book.
absol. a. 1734. North, Lives, I. 20. It was his lordship’s constant practice to commonplace as he read.
1754. Chatham, Lett. Nephew, 59. In general my advice to you is, not to common-place upon paper.
† 2. To furnish with commonplaces or authoritative quotations. Obs.
a. 1714. Burnet, Own Time (1823), I. 6. Then a head in divinity was to be common placed in Latin and the person was to maintain theses upon it.
3. intr. To cite, repeat, or utter commonplaces. Also, † to support a thesis: see the sb. 2.
1609. R. Barnerd, Faithf. Shepheard, 52. To take euery where occasion to common place vpon anie word.
a. 1626. Bacon, To K. Jas., Wks. VI. 251 (L.). For the good that comes of particular and select committees and commissions, I need not commonplace.
1662. H. More, Philos. Writ., Pref. Gen. (1712), 12. It being the very Text upon which my self first common-placed in our College-chappel.
1735. Byrom, Rem. (1855), I. II. 635. Mr. Topham common-placed upon the resurrection of the same body or rather against it.
4. trans. To render commonplace or trite.
1847–8. H. Miller, First Impr., ii. (1857), 23. Coldly-read or fantastically-chanted prayers, commonplaced by the twice-a-day repetition of centuries.
Hence Commonplacing vbl. sb.
1696. Growth Deism, 14. The profound Learning (so he thinks much reading and common-placing to be) of a certain Eminent Divine.
1809–12. Mar. Edgeworth, Ennui, vi. In the methods of indexing and common-placing.
