The phrase "a common noun for" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when explaining or defining a general term that represents a class of objects or concepts.
Example: "The word 'dog' is a common noun for a domesticated animal that is often kept as a pet."
Alternatives: "a general term for" or "a generic name for".
I do not feel that I have been recompensed in the slightest for my £145.50 licence fee by being informed that, "The English use of 'peak' as a common noun for a mountaintop appears in the 17th Century – though it had been used before that for other sharp or pointed things".
The Chinese name for Bovet, "Bo Wei", became a common noun for watches in China for many years.
"Fenrir" appears twice in verse as a common noun for a "wolf" or "warg" in chapter 58 of Skáldskaparmál, and in chapter 56 of the book Háttatal.
In these excerpts Muninn is referenced in a common noun for 'raven' and Huginn is referenced in a kenning for 'carrion'carrion
In chapter 2, a work by the skald Eyvindr skáldaspillir is quoted that mentions "Surt's deep vales", using the name Surtr as a common noun for a jötunn, with "deep vales" referring to the depths of the mountains (specifically Hnitbjorg).
In skaldic poetry Geri and Freki are used as common nouns for "wolf" in chapter 58 of Skáldskaparmál (quoted in works by the skalds Þjóðólfr of Hvinir and Egill Skallagrímsson) and Geri is again used as a common noun for "wolf" in chapter 64 of the Prose Edda book Háttatal.
(In unpublished work, Kripke (1973) mentions the historical case of the Biblical term 'Moloch', which interpreters of the Bible took to be a name for a mythical pagan god, whereas modern philology suggests it was in fact used as a common noun either for kings or for human sacrifices.
If F is a common noun standing for a kind of things e.g., 'horse', then 'x and y are the same F' is a statement of identity, whereas if F is an a common noun standing for a kind of properties of things, then 'x and y are the same F' is a statement of similarity.
Quantifier phrases are (roughly) noun phrases or determiner phrases that include both a quantifier and a common noun or noun phrase, for example, 'every student', 'some dog', and 'no black cats'.
The poetry is alliterative; one of its features is the kenning, a metaphorical phrase used in place of a common noun (e.g., "swan road" for "sea").
For the record, the word "greenhorn" occurs twice in the book as a common noun, applied to someone else.
