Explanation Please

[nilrac52]

Crossword clue- Allowance of food in Parliament? [7].
C-M-O-S
Looks like answer is commons but why? I have tried to find a link between "commons" and "allowance of food" but unable to do so. Many thanks.

[BlackadderV]

Commons is an old word for food rations.

[Tilly2]

I think commons is a mediaeval word for food. I have come across that before.

[MargoTester]

I think commons is an old fashioned word for an amount to food.

[scorpiojo]

Commons: food at acommon table, food in general, rations (Chambers)

[nilrac52]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Didn't come across that before and didn't know it meant rations. Thank you for confirming my answer. I certainly will remember this one the next time.

[Tilly2]

Can I move my mediaeval to Victorian, please. Maybe I read it in a Dickens novel.

[ladyalex]

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/commons

definition 4

[Tilly2]

Ah, Middle English. Thank you, Lady Alex. Must have seen it in Chaucer.

[ladyalex]

:-))

[Tilly2]

That would have really bugged me, trying to place it. Thanks again.