Common language infrastructure is a term which gives no results when run on the Microsoft web site]. But Common language runtime is not much better (4 hits). And Common language runtime gives a lot of hits, but they seem to be Java related.
A general google search on Common Language Infrastructure and Common Language Runtime gives a considerable amount of results. But sorting out needs its time.
I would like to see an article which translates the Microsoft speak into commonly known computing terms. The stub above is a first attempt at this. Perhaps it should be moved to another heading. -- Kwaku