common sensen.adj.
/ˌkɒmən ˈsɛns/, U.S. /ˌkɑmən ˈsɛns/ A. n.† III. Uses corresponding to sense n. III.
I. Uses corresponding to sense n. I.
1. The commonly received meaning of a word or expression.Frequently as a transparent collocation of the adjective (which may be modified or compared) and noun (in singular or plural).
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1533 T. More Let. Impugnynge J. Fryth sig. e How be it as for this poynt that an allegory vsed in some place, is not a cause suffycyent to make men leue the proper sygnyfycacyons of goddes worde in euery other place, & seke an allegorye and forsake the playne comon sense and vnderstandynge of the letter.
1546 S. Gardiner Detection Deuils Sophistrie f. xxxii Thus saith Theophilacte, by whome we be learned of the circumstance, to note the meanyng, if it be hydden, and so not onely the wordes to be noted, in theyr common sense, but the meanyng to be asked and learned.
1649 C. Love Modest & Clear Vindic. 28 That oath you took according to the expresse words, and their plain and common sense, without any Equivocation, or mentall Evasion, or secret Reservation whatsoever.
1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. vii. 561 Either..he meant according to the common sense, or..he intended to equivocate.
1759 M. Pilkington Remarks Script. xxxiv. 202 As the Writers of the New Testament had been so long used..to the appropriated, as well as to the common Senses of the Words of that Language.
1865 L. Gage & J. H. W. Stuckenberg tr. K. R. Hagenbach German Rationalism xx. 303 His [sc. Fichte's] influence upon the students was not intended to be merely scientific, in the common-sense of the word.
1991 Internat. Rev. Appl. Ling. in Lang. Teaching 29 285 The aim of this study is to present an analysis of get according to which get is not polysemic in the common sense of that term.
2002 K. Heusch tr. H. Fritzsch Curvature of Spacetime xxi. 263 If it were not for the fact that physics considers all matter to have some degree of warmth, if not heat in the common sense of the word, as long as its temperature is above absolute zero.
2. That which is reasonable or sensible; that which appeals to or is in accord with instinctive understanding or sound judgement; esp. (in earliest use) written or spoken discourse that is reasonable or sensible.Now usually as an extended use of sense A. 4b.
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the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [noun] > something sensible
sense?1552
common sense1646
1646 T. Edwards 1st & 2nd Pt. Gangræna (ed. 3) sig. E2 I cannot writ true English, put the Nominative Case and Verb together, speak common sense, nor give the English sense of a Latin sentence.
1698 R. Boulton Exam. Mr. J. Colbatch Bks. 24 Such a Man, that cannot write common Sense.
1769 Monthly Rev. Dec. 446 Why will a man who cannot write common sense venture upon disputation?
1803 J. Mackintosh in Trial J. Peltier 126 I ask you, again, Gentlemen, is this common sense?
1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. iii. 56 To him it was just common sense, and common sense only.
1885 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 29 467 It is only common sense that..you should look at the whole of the document together.
1920 E. Ferber Half Portions i. 3 Well dressed in blue serge, with broad-toed health shoes... The blue serge was practical common sense. The health shoes were comfort.
1974 A. Lurie War between Tates (1977) ii. 39 He believed their courses to be composed of equal parts of common sense and nonsense—that is, of the already obvious and the probably false.
2003 Eurobusiness Aug. 44/3 Few people..were talking common sense before the report came out.
II. Uses corresponding to sense n. II.
3. In plural and †singular (obsolete rare). The faculties of perception and sensation (sometimes also including, or implying the participation of, the mental faculties) collectively; the five senses; the wits. Now North American.
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the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [noun] > faculty of sensation > the senses
the fivefold mightsa1200
five witsc1200
passionsa1425
senses?1530
common senses1533
fifteen wits1606
Cinque Ports1633
cinque outposts, posts1649
perceptions1666
perceptives1835
1533 W. Tyndale Souper of Lorde f. 13v Yf thys matter had stande vpon so depe a myracle, as our papistes fayne wyth out anye worde of God, not comprehended vnder any of theyr comon senses, that they shoulde eate his bodye beynge vnder the fourme of bread as longe, depe, thicke and as brode as hanged vpon the crosse.
1554 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebellion sig. M.iiv Howe cometh it to passe, that anye man hauinge the vse of his commen senses shoulde not perceiue what thys illusion is, and whence it came?
1565 W. Alley Πτωχομυσεῖον ii. f. 289v What fonde man, what dolte, or what asse would thus argue or reason after this maner? Truly none excepte he were destitute of the common senses.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. i. 57 To know..Things hid & bard from common sense [printed cammon sense; corrected in 1623]..is studies god-like recompence.
1644 H. Burton Grand Impostor Unmasked 14 As a man bereft of his common senses, stript of his understanding, benumb'd with a lethargy, senselesse, brutish, blinde, obdurate.
1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation i. 210/2 Those thing are called common Objects, which are perceptible, not only by one of the common Senses, but by other also, with the accession of the internal Sense, which they call Sensus Communis, with the help also of our reason.
1702 A. Brown Char. True Publick Spirit i. 2 These impressions, delectable or unpleasing, seem to belong to a particular sensation and manner of touch, both different from the five common Senses, and for which not all have their proper organs.
1724 J. Swift Consid. in Fraud Detected (1725) 100 Some who seem to think, we have neither Common Sense nor Common Senses.
1799 A. Walker Syst. Familiar Philos. iii. 87 The few truths we seem qualified to attain, come best through the channel of the common senses.
1826 J. Hawkshead Ess. Operation in Wills of Word Issue vi. 451 When a man turns advocate he takes leave for a while of his common senses.
1861 ‘Ess. & Rev.’ Examined v. 61 The eyes, the ears, and all the common senses of the people co-operated with him in carrying on the deception.
1939 Forum (N.Y.) July 86/1 The common reports that our common senses present us with afford us a solid enough foundation on which to build a workable conception of the universe.
1995 A. H. Hehn Fluid Power Troubleshooting (ed. 2) xii. 497 All you need to troubleshoot a hydraulic system are four tools provided by nature, your ‘common senses’: sight, hearing, touch, and smell.
2011 R. DeVere & M. Calvert Navigating Smell & Taste Disorders p. xix To rate the importance..of the common senses of hearing, vision, taste, and smell.
4. † a. Natural intelligence possessed by a typical person; innate understanding; simple wisdom. Obsolete.In later use passing into sense A. 4b.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > [noun]
healthc1000
in witc1000
i-mindOE
mindc1380
reasonc1405
wit-state?c1450
common sense1536
sense1536
senses1540
soundness1548
sanitya1616
wisdoma1616
mental health?1650
saneness1727
mens sana1853
balance1856
lucidity1874
clear-headedness1882
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [noun] > untutored perception
common sense1536
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [noun]
witc1175
sensea1382
conscience1449
mother witc1475
common wit1517
common sense1536
philosophy1557
good sense?1562
sconce1567
mother-sense1603
ingenuity1651
bonsense1681
rumgumption1686
nous1706
gumption?1719
rummlegumption1751
savvy1785
horse sense1832
kokum1848
sabe1872
common1899
marbles1902
gump1920
loaf1925
1536 T. Starkey Pref. Kynges Hyghnes f. 31 For he that thinketh that in those hartes resteth christen vnitie, where as one in harte iudgeth an other to be an heretike, he is playne frantike, and lacketh the common sense.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 13v Vnlesse he be voide of all common sense [L. sensu communi] and naturall wit of man.
1602 T. Fitzherbert Apol. f. 12, in Def. Catholyke Cause I referre me to the iudgement of any man that hath but common sence.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding i. iii. 16 He would be thought void of common Sense, who asked on the one side, or on the other side went about to give a Reason, Why it is impossible for the same thing to be, and not to be.
1799 J. Mackintosh Disc. on Study of Law of Nature & Nations 34 Whoever thoroughly understands such a science, must be able to teach it plainly to all men of common sense.
1847 R. Anderson Let. 20 June in Artillery Officer in Mexican War (1911) 219 The first report is not credited by any American, and probably by no Mexican of common-sense.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 404 Common sense will not teach us metaphysics any more than mathematics.
b. Intelligence or sagacity in relation to practical matters arising in everyday life; the ability to make sound judgements and sensible decisions regarding such matters; pragmatism.Now the predominant sense. See also sense A. 2.
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the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > worldly wisdom > [noun]
shrewdnessa1616
common sense1658
savoir vivre1745
savoir faire1788
savoir1823
conventional wisdom1838
sophistication1850
canniness1878
hep1914
hipness1937
move1966
1658 H. Herbert tr. J. de Silhon Minister of State 47 They were persons of very good common sense [Fr. sens commun], and of very high Courage.
1685 tr. P. Nicole & A. Arnauld Logic i. 5 Common Sence [Fr. Le sens commun] is no such Vulgar Quality as men take it to be.
1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) I. xx. 111 By common sense we usually and justly understand the faculty to discern one thing from another, and the ordinary ability to keep ourselves from being imposed upon by gross contradictions, palpable inconsistencies, and unmask'd imposture.
1774 J. Priestley Exam. Dr. Reid's Inq. 127 Common sense..has long been appropriated to a very different thing, viz. to that capacity for judging of common things that persons of middling capacities are capable of.
1852 Ld. Tennyson Ode Wellington iv. 6 Foremost captain of his time, Rich in saving common-sense.
1888 Times 16 Jan. 8/1 The general demand was for intelligence, sagacity, soundness of judgment, clearness of perception, and that sanity of thinking called common sense.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let 295 His wife, whatever her conduct, had clear eyes and an almost depressing amount of common sense.
1977 P. Scott Staying On (1978) viii. 140 The still quiet voice not of his conscience but of his commonsense.
2005 Weekly World News 25 July 16/4 If you have even an ounce of common sense, you'll rethink your position on this topic.
c. Philosophy. The innate or instinctive human capacity to recognize as self-evident certain fundamental truths about the world. Also: the fundamental truths (held to be) so recognized, as attested by the common consent of humankind. Now chiefly historical with reference to eighteenth-century Scottish philosophy.Sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense A. 4a.
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the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > epistemology > [noun] > cognition > common sense
common sense1744
c1705 G. Berkeley Commonplace Bk. in Wks. (1871) IV. 455 To be eternally banishing Metaphisics, etc., and recalling men to Common Sense.]
1744 J. Harris Three Treat. Notes 287 Common Sense..a Sense common to all, except Lunatics and Ideots.
1764 T. Reid (title) An Inquiry into the human mind, on the principles of common sense.
1769 R. Price Rev. Morals (ed. 2) i. 81 (note) Common sense... The faculty by which we distinguish between self-evident truth and palpable contradiction.
1776 G. Campbell Philos. of Rhetoric I. i. v. 118 To maintain propositions the reverse of the primary truths of common sense, doth not imply a contradiction, it only implies insanity.
1785 Let. Dec. in Lett. & Papers Agric. (Bath & West of Eng. Soc.) (1786) III. xxiii. 180 By common sense, the writer does not mean common opinion; for nothing is more vague and liable to error than that; but those ideas which are the same in all men, as proceeding from identical or similar sensations.
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics p. xi Dogmatic Intuitionism, in which the general rules of Common Sense are accepted as axiomatic.
1986 Brit. Jrnl. Aesthetics Autumn 325/1 His preferential contrast of ‘continental philosophy’ and its literary theory to ‘the Common Sense school’.
2015 T. Dixon in G. Graham Sc. Philos. in 19th & 20th Cent. ii. 23 His [sc. Thomas Brown's] thought provided a bridge between the Scottish school of ‘Common Sense’ associated with Thomas Reid, and the later positivism of John Stuart Mill and others.
5. Philosophy. A faculty which unites the impressions of the five senses in a common consciousness; the consciousness produced in this way. Occasionally also: a centre in the brain within which sensations are united; = sensorium n. 1a. Cf. common wit at wit n. 3a. Now historical.The existence of such a faculty was first posited by Aristotle.
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the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [noun]
wita1000
i-mindOE
mindc1350
common wita1398
advertencec1405
common sense1543
consciousness1678
conscious1852
1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. i.i. f. 3/2 They [sc. eyes] were ordeyned of nature in the former part [of the head]..that they might carye visible thinges to ye commune sens [L. sensum communem].
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique iii. f. 112 The Phisicians declare, that in the former parte of the hed, lieth the common sense, the whiche is therfore so called, because it geueth iudgement, of al the fiue outwarde senses, onely when thei are presently occupied aboute any thyng.
1606 L. Bryskett Disc. Ciuill Life 123 Which common sense, is a power or facultie of the sensitiue soule..and is therefore called common, because it receiueth commonly the formes or images which the exteriour senses present vnto it.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. vii. 35 This common sense is the Iudge or Moderator of the rest, by whom we discerne all differences of obiects.
1655 Physical Dict. in N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière Pract. Physick sig. Nnnnv Visive Nerve, the seeing Nerve. The Sinnew wherewith the Objects of sight are carried into the Brain, to the Imagination or Commonsence.
1846 W. Hamilton in T. Reid Wks. 756/2 note Common Sense (κοινὴ αἴσθησις) was employed by Aristotle to denote the faculty in which the various reports of the several senses are reduced to the unity of a common apperception.
1908 L. A. Lambert Christian Sci. before Bar of Reason viii. 136 The common sense of the individual man is the united report of two or more of the five senses.
1999 C. Korsmeyer Making Sense of Taste (2002) 19 The common sense is..responsible for relating together the data from all the senses and producing an impression of an entire object.
6. A generally held belief or opinion; a widely shared feeling or judgement. Chiefly with of. Obsolete.
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the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [noun] > of community
common sense1547
1547 S. Gardiner Let. 12–20 Nov. in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1563) 803/2 Warre is daungerous in the common sense of man.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv.x. sig. I6 All the cares and euill which they meet, May..Seeme gainst common sence to them most sweet. View more context for this quotation
1663 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies vi. 98 These are I say to be received, by the common sense of a Nation, as Gods warning pieces.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 1 The common sense of Mankind.
1713 G. Berkeley Three Dialogues Hylas & Philonous iii. 112 I am content, Hylas, to appeal to the common Sense of the World for the Truth of my Notion.
1760 W. Hopkins (title) The trinitarian controversy reviewed: or, a defence of the appeal to the common sense of all Christian people, &c.
1834 Athenæum 2 Aug. 563/3 Charles V. is pourtrayed as the last representative of the Middle Ages—the supporter of imperial despotism and pontifical usurpation against the common sense of mankind.
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics iii. xi. 333 The promise which the Common Sense of mankind recognises as binding.
1916 Rotarian Dec. 524/1 We have not learned much yet, but we have the message of a Prince of Peace which will yet dominate the common sense of mankind.
B. adj. (attributive).
Reasonable, sensible; appealing to or in accordance with instinctive understanding or sound judgement. Usually hyphenated.
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the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [adjective] > characterized by sense
sensiblec1598
philosophical1638
salted1647
philosophic1700
common sense1797
no-nonsense1853
realistic1869
grounded1976
1797 A. Barnard Let. 29 Nov. in S. Afr. Cent. Ago (1910) 142 I think, my dear friend, I ought here to make you common-sense apology for the many vague things I say and repeat.
1830 Christian Observer July 392/1 There is a sound common-sense maxim, frequently heard among the wise and prudent of this world—first things first.
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics i. vi. 70 Egoism and Utilitarianism may fairly be regarded as extremes between which the Common-Sense morality is a kind of media via.
1922 R. W. Sellars Evolutionary Naturalism 33 What is true of common-sense realism is equally true of scientific realism.
1955 H. Meyerhoff Time in Lit. i. 7 The arrow, in its flight through space and time, is, at any given moment or ‘now’, always standing still—which seems to make mockery of our common-sense notions of flying through space and time.
2008 Outlook 21 July 47/3 I would pursue common-sense measures such as offering tax incentives to companies that create jobs in the US.
Phrases
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1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale 73 I am suer T[indale] is not so farre besydis his comon sencis as to saye the dead bodye hereth cristis voyce.
1558 C. Goodman How Superior Powers v. 53 How farre ye haue bene led besydes your commun senses and the manifest worde of God.
1671 Bp. S. Parker Def. Eccl. Politie i. 37 As if they conspired to force all the World out of their common senses.
1692 G. Hickes Vindic. Princ. Dr. Sherlock 21 Or else Henry and his whole Council were out of their Wits and common Senses not to perceive it.
1738 S. Berington Great Duties Life iii. 265 If they should endeavour to persuade us out of our common Senses.
1779 Honest Sentiments Eng. Officer on Army Great Brit. iii. i. 36 For want of a plain guide, who is in his common senses, to direct him.
1785 T. Northey Gen. Dir. use Northey’s Compositions 6 If rats be in their common senses they will seldom take any thing that will destroy them.
1787 G. Gregory tr. R. Lowth Lect. Sacred Poetry Hebrews I. xvii. 366 Aristotle expresses it μανικον (insane), Plato εκϕρονα (out of their common senses).
1831 J. J. Halls Pearce's Life & Adventures II. ix. 294 To which she answered as when in her common senses.
1889 Quiver 24 209 Fitter for a madman than for one in his common senses.
P2. Philosophy of Common Sense: a philosophy according to which the universal consent of humankind to certain fundamental instinctive beliefs (e.g. in the existence of the material world) counts decisively as evidence of their truth.Widely applied to the Scottish school which arose in the 18th cent. in opposition to the sceptical views of Hume and others, the phrase has more recently also been associated with the thought of George Edward Moore (1873–1958).
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1749 tr. Marquis d'Argens (title) The impartial philosopher: or, the philosophy of common sense.
1798 A. F. M. Willich Elements Crit. Philos. 19 The system of Locke, that of Leibnitz, a species of Eclecticism, and finally the Philosophy of Common Sense, were alternately opposed to it.
1800 T. Carbry tr. A. Valsecchi Found. Relig. II. x. 189 Now if Mr. S. Evremond..had studied..but a little of the philosophy of common sense, and of good faith, instead of Epicurism.
1846 W. Hamilton in T. Reid Wks. p. ix On the philosophy of common sense; or our primary beliefs considered as the ultimate criterion of truth.
1936 A. J. Ayer Lang., Truth & Logic ii. 52 Locke is generally regarded as being one who, like G. E. Moore at the present time, puts forward a philosophy of common sense.
2010 S. P. Segrest Amer. & Polit. Philos. Common Sense Introd. 3 It is not a systematic philosophy of common sense, though it contains significant material from which to make one.
Derivatives
common-ˈsensely adv. now rare in a commonsensical manner; in accordance with common sense.
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the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [adverb]
sensibly1578
commonsensically1828
common-sensibly1849
common-sensely1850
hard-headedly1881
1850 J. Lord Short Rev. 8 in Christian Philosopher & Metaphysician (1852) Prosopopæia and personification can never be used legitimately, common-sensely, or even hyperbolically.
1878 A. B. Grosart in H. More Compl. Poems Introd. 36/2 Thus common-sensely does he put the matter.
1953 Amer. Mercury June 11/2 When we step outdoors just common-sensely now on a June morning.
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1866 C. Reade Griffith Gaunt viii, in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 234/1 He did not think it orthodox to be present at a religious ceremony of his Protestant friends,—nor common-sense-o-dox to turn his back upon their dinner.
commonsenˈsology n. common sense regarded as a science or religion.
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1805 J. Lawrence Gen. Treat. Cattle 585 The contemplation, either of physiology, or commonsensology.
2006 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 1 May 18 The seventh commandment of Justin's Church of Common Sensology.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.1533