A while ago, I stumbled across a PhD thesis from the University of Guelph by Ricardo Ramirez in which he writes (p.56) :Communication means many things to different people to the extent that Peters (1999) writes: "…its popularity has exceeded its clarity." (p. 6) The Latin word communicare meant to 'impart', 'share', or 'make common'. The key root is mun-which relates to 'community', 'meaning' and Gemeinschaft (Peters, 1999:7).
However, Peters also mentions the 'dark side of communication': the Greek term koinoo like the Latin communicare, means to 'make common', 'communicate','impart' or 'share'; yet it also means to pollute and make uncertain. (p. 267). Peters (1999) refers to the inherent problems associated with communication. He refers to writings in psychology that place emphasis on human individuality, where humans are perceived to be "hardwired by the privacy of their experience to have communication problems" (p. 4).
Sources:
Peters, J. (1999). Speaking into the air: A history of the idea of communication, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
http://knet.ca/documents/Ricardo-Ramirez-PhD-Thesis-Oct2000.PDF