Practical judgment and intelligence applied to everyday situations; sound reasoning based on ordinary experience rather than specialized knowledge.
From 'common' + 'sense' (from Latin sensus, 'faculty of feeling'). The term emerged in the 16th century to describe reasoning shared by ordinary people, elevated to the status of a legitimate form of knowledge.
The phrase 'common sense' is deceptively radical—it suggests that everyone, not just experts or authorities, can think clearly about practical matters. During the American Revolution, Thomas Paine literally titled a pamphlet 'Common Sense' to argue that ordinary people could decide their own fate.
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