sense

Definition

Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.

Etymology

From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus (“sense, reason, way”), from Frankish *sinn ("reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction"; whence also Dutch zin, German Sinn, Swedish sinne, Norwegian sinn). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

Example Sentences

• "Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep."
• "What surmounts the reach / Of human sense I shall delineate."
• "a sense of security"

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