Etymology

common sense

Today it means: Ordinary sensible understanding; one's basic intelligence which allows for plain understanding and without which good decisions or judgments cannot be made. Full definition →

Middle French sens commun ← Latin sēnsus commūnis ← Ancient Greek κοινὴ αἴσθησις
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκοινὴ αἴσθησις
  2. Latin · calque ofsēnsus commūnis
  3. Middle French · calque ofsens commun
  4. English todaycommon sense

Calque of Middle French sens commun and its source, Latin sēnsus commūnis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὴ αἴσθησις (koinḕ aísthēsis).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.