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* "Commonwealth" has nothing to do with sharing riches. The word took root in Renaissance Europe as an equivalent for the old Roman res publica, i.e., the public good or the common weal. Oliver Cromwell's dictatorship in England (1649-53), after the execution of King Charles I, was therefore dubbed "the Commonwealth." The U.S. colonies liked the self-governing implications of the word, and several states (e.g., the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania) still bear the name. As early as 1852, British officials were employing commonwealth as a euphemistic name for empire. It has now grown to mean a collection of self-governing communities, united in friendship, but without any central government. Even Khrushchev has put a gingerly foot on the bandwagon by suggesting that his satellite states might grow into a Communist Commonwealth of Nations.
† Wrote an anonymous Canadian bard: Away with honors, knighthoods, swords, In proof of high endeavor. We'll wear where Adam wore the fig The Maple Leaf forever.
* An abbreviation of "Commonwealthmas"; the "w" is pronounced like that in the town of Ebbw Vale.