sense
pronunciation
How to pronounce sense in British English:
UK [sens]
How to pronounce sense in American English:
US [sens]
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- Noun:
- a general conscious awareness
- the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted
- the faculty through which the external world is apprehended
- sound practical judgment
- a natural appreciation or ability
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- Verb:
- perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles
- detect some circumstance or entity automatically
- become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
- comprehend
Word Origin
- sense
- sense: [14] Sense comes ultimately from Latin sentīre ‘feel’, a prodigious contributor to English vocabulary (it is also the source of assent [13], consent, dissent [16], resent, sentence, sentient [17], and sentiment). From it was derived the noun sēnsus ‘faculty of perceiving’, which was borrowed by English as sense. And sēnsus in turn spawned its own derivatives, which have given English sensation [17], sensible [14], sensitive [14], sensual [15], and sensuous [17].=> assent, consent, dissent, resent, sensible, sentence, sentiment
- sense (n.)
- c. 1400, "faculty of perception," also "meaning, import, interpretation" (especially of Holy Scripture), from Old French sens "one of the five senses; meaning; wit, understanding" (12c.) and directly from Latin sensus "perception, feeling, undertaking, meaning," from sentire "perceive, feel, know," probably a figurative use of a literally meaning "to find one's way," or "to go mentally," from PIE root *sent- "to go" (cognates: Old High German sinnan "to go, travel, strive after, have in mind, perceive," German Sinn "sense, mind," Old English sið "way, journey," Old Irish set, Welsh hynt "way"). Application to any one of the external or outward senses (touch, sight, hearing, etc.) in English first recorded 1520s. A certain negro tribe has a special word for "see;" but only one general word for "hear," "touch," "smell," and "taste." It matters little through which sense I realize that in the dark I have blundered into a pig-sty. In French "sentir" means to smell, to touch, and to feel, all together. [Erich M. von Hornbostel, "Die Einheit der Sinne" ("The Unity of the Senses"), 1927] Meaning "that which is wise" is from c. 1600. Meaning "capacity for perception and appreciation" is from c. 1600 (as in sense of humor, attested by 1783, sense of shame, 1640s).
- sense (v.)
- "to perceive by the senses," 1590s, from sense (n.). Meaning "be conscious inwardly of (one's state or condition) is from 1680s. Meaning "perceive (a fact or situation) not by direct perception" is from 1872. Related: Sensed; sensing.
Synonym
Example
- 1. But it made some sense .
- 2. But even this makes sense .
- 3. Even this makes perfect sense .
- 4. Trust in your innate sense of humor .
- 5. This will create a sense of inner harmony and purpose .