Brewer's: Fellow Commoner

A wealthy or married undergraduate of Cambridge, who pays extra to “common” (i.e. dine) at the fellows' table. In Oxford, these demi-dons are termed Gentlemen Commoners.

Fellow commoner
or gentleman commoner. An empty bottle; so called because these sort of students are, as a class, empty-headed.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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