Etymology

make common cause

Today it means: To cooperate, to enter into an alliance for a shared goal. Full definition →

French faire cause commune
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The story

  1. French · calque offaire cause commune
  2. English todaymake common cause

Possibly a calque of French faire cause commune, first attested in the same period (1787).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.