sensus communis

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Latin

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Etymology

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Literally, common (i.e., universal, generally shared) sense. In the philosophical sense, a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὴ ἔννοια (koinḕ énnoia), κοινὴ αἴσθησις (koinḕ aísthēsis), chiefly in Aristotle.

Noun

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sēnsus commūnis m sg (genitive sēnsūs commūnis); fourth declension

  1. tact, manners, discretion
    • c. 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium 17.105.4:
      Odium aut est ex offensa: hoc vitabis neminem lacessendo; aut gratuitum: a quo te sensus communis tuebitur.
      Hatred is either the result of an offence—and you shall avoid this by never provoking anyone—or else it is gratuitous, in which case tact will protect you from it.
    • c. 100 CEc. 130 CE, Juvenal, Satires 3.8.71–74:
      rarus enim ferme sensus communis in illa / fortuna.
      For manners are typically rare in people of that sort.
  2. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) the basic faculty of human perception and discrimination between different qualities, shared by all the specific senses and preceding rational judgement

Declension

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Fourth-declension noun with a third-declension adjective, singular only.

Case Singular
Nominative sēnsus commūnis
Genitive sēnsūs commūnis
Dative sēnsuī commūnī
Accusative sēnsum commūnem
Ablative sēnsū commūnī
Vocative sēnsus commūnis

Descendants

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  • English: common sense (calque)
  • French: sens commun (calque)
  • German: Gemeinsinn (calque, but now a false friend)

Further reading

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