sense

See also Sense

English

Wikipedia Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, reason, direction”); partly from Latin sensus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Frankish *sinn (“reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction”), from Proto-Germanic *sinnaz (“mind, meaning”). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”). Compare French assener (“to thrust out”), forcené (“maniac”). More at send.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĕns, IPA: /sɛns/, SAMPA: /sEns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

sense (plural senses)

1. One of the methods for a living being to gather data about the world; sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
2. A general conscious awareness.

   a sense of security

3. Sound practical judgment, as in common sense
4. The meaning, reason, or value of something.

   You don’t make any sense.

5. A natural appreciation or ability

   A keen musical sense

6. (pragmatics) The way that a referent is presented.
7. (semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.
8. (mathematics) One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
9. (mathematics) One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.

Hyponyms

• See also Wikisaurus:sense

Derived terms

• transferred sense

Related terms

• sensation
• sensible
• sensitive
• sensual
• sensuous
• sensor

Translations

method to gather data

Catalan: sentit (ca) m. Croatian: osjet (hr) m. Czech: smysl (cs) m. Dutch: zintuig (nl) n. Finnish: aisti (fi) French: sens (fr) m. German: Sinn (de) m. Hebrew: חוש (he) (khúsh) m. Hungarian: érzék (hu) Irish: céadfa (ga) f. Italian: senso (it) m. Japanese: 感覚 (ja) (kankaku)

Latgalian: nūjauta f. Latvian: maņa (lv) f. Lithuanian: nuojauta (lt) f., uoslė (lt) f. Norwegian: sens (no) m. Polish: zmysł (pl) m. Portuguese: sentido (pt) m. Russian: чувство (ru) (čúvstvo) n., ощущение (ru) (oščuščénije) n. Slovene: čutilo n., čut m. Spanish: sentido (es) m. Swedish: sinne (sv) n. Turkish: duyu (tr) Volapük: sien (vo)

conscious awareness

Arabic: احساس (’eħsās) m. Catalan: sensació m. Chinese: 感覺, 感觉 (gǎnjué) Danish: fornemmelse (da) Dutch: gevoel (nl) n., gewaarwording (nl) f. Finnish: tunne (fi) French: sens (fr) m. German: Gefühl (de) n., Sinn (de) m. Hebrew: תחושה (he) (tkhúsha) f. Hungarian: érzés (hu), érzet (hu) Irish: ciall (ga) f. Italian: senso (it) m., coscienza (it) f., sensazione (it) f.

Japanese: 感覚 (ja) (kankaku), 意識 (ja) (ishiki) Korean: 감각 (ko) (gamgak) Latgalian: pajauta f., jutūne f. Latvian: sajūta (lv) Lithuanian: jutimas (lt), jausmas (lt) Portuguese: senso (pt) m. Russian: чувство (ru) (čúvstvo) n., ощущение (ru) (oščuščénije) n. Scottish Gaelic: ciall f., brìgh f., mothachadh m., faireachdainn m., cudthrom m. Slovene: občutek (sl) m. Spanish: sensación (es) f. Swedish: sinne (sv) n. Telugu: స్పృహ (spRha)

sound judgement

Dutch: (gezond) verstand n. Finnish: järki (fi) French: sens (fr) m. German: Sinn (de) m. Hebrew: הגיון (he) (higayón) m. Hungarian: értelem (hu)

Irish: ciall (ga) f. Italian: senso (it) m. Japanese: 感覚 (ja) (kankaku), 意識 (ja) (ishiki), 分別 (ja) (funbetsu) Portuguese: sentido (pt) m. Swedish: förnuft (sv) n., förstånd (sv) n., sinne (sv) n.

meaning or reason

Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast) Croatian: smisao (hr) m. Finnish: järki (fi) French: sens (fr) m. German: Verstand (de) m. Greek: νόημα (el) (nóima) n. Hungarian: értelem (hu) Irish: ciall (ga) f. Italian: senso (it) m., significato (it) m.,

Japanese: 意味 (ja) (imi) Latgalian: jāga f., zeimeiba f. Latvian: jēga (lv) f. Lithuanian: prasmė (lt) f. Polish: sens (pl) m. Portuguese: sentido (pt) m. Russian: смысл (ru) (smysl) m. Slovene: smisel (sl) m. Spanish: sentido (es) Swedish: mening (sv) c., bemärkelse (sv) c.

natural ability

Finnish: kyky (fi), lahja (fi), lahjakkuus (fi), vaisto (fi) German: Sinn (de) Hebrew: חוש (he) (khúsh) m. Hungarian: érzék (hu)

Irish: ciall (ga) f. Japanese: 感覚 (ja) (kankaku), センス (ja) (sensu) Portuguese: sentido (pt) m., senso (pt) m. Spanish: sentido (es) m.

pragmatics term

semantics term

Arabic: معنى (maʕna) m. Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast) Catalan: significat (ca) m. Chinese: 意義, 意义 (yìyì) Czech: smysl (cs) m., význam (cs) m. Dutch: betekenis (nl) f. Finnish: merkitys (fi) French: sens (fr) m. German: Sinn (de) m., Bedeutung (de) f. Hebrew: מובן (he) (muván) m.

Hungarian: értelem (hu) Irish: ciall (ga) f. Italian: senso (it) m., significato (it) m. Japanese: 意味 (ja) (imi) Korean: 감각 (gamgak) Portuguese: sentido (pt) m. Russian: смысл (ru) (smysl) m. Slovene: pomen (sl) m. Spanish: significado (es) m., acepción (es) f. Swedish: betydelse (sv) c.

math: direction of a vector

Finnish: suunta (fi) Italian: verso (it) m.

Spanish: sentido (es) m.

math: direction of rotation

Finnish: pyörimissuunta (fi)

Spanish: sentido (es) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Mandarin: 官能 (guānnèng), 感官 (gǎnguāng), 识别力 (shíbié lì)

See also

• business sense
• common sense
• sixth sense
• sight / vision
• hearing / audition
• taste / gustation
• smell / olfaction
• touch / tactition
• thermoception
• nociception
• equilibrioception
• proprioception

Verb

sense (third-person singular simple present senses, present participle sensing, simple past and past participle sensed)

1. To use biological senses: to either smell, watch, taste, hear or feel.
2. To instinctively be aware.

   She immediately sensed her disdain.

3. To comprehend.

Translations

use biological senses

Dutch: gewaarworden, waarnemen Finnish: aistia (fi) French: sentir (fr) German: wahrnehmen (de) Hebrew: חש (he) (khash)

Japanese: 感じる (ja) (kanjiru) Old Church Slavonic: чѹти (čuti) Portuguese: sentir (pt) Russian: чувствовать (ru) (čúvstvovat') impf., почувствовать (ru) (počúvstvovat') pf.; ощущать (ru) (oščuščát') impf., ощутить (ru) (oščutít') pf. Spanish: sentir (es) Turkish: algılamak (tr), duyumsamak (tr)

to instinctively be aware

Finnish: vaistota (fi) Japanese: 感じる (ja) (kanjiru), 察する (ja) (sassuru), 気づく (ja) (kizuku) Mandarin: 感觉到 (cmn)

Portuguese: sentir (pt) Russian: чувствовать (ru) (čúvstvovat') impf., почувствовать (ru) (počúvstvovat') pf.; ощущать (ru) (oščuščát') impf., ощутить (ru) (oščutít') pf. Spanish: sentir (es)

to comprehend

Japanese: 感じる (ja) (kanjiru), 察する (ja) (sassuru), 気づく (ja) (kizuku)

Spanish: dar sentido (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Latin: sentire

Italian: sentire

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: cause · close · England · #420: sense · ten · beautiful · possible

Anagrams

• senes

---

Catalan

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin sine. Compare French sans.

Preposition

sense

1. without

---

Latin

Participle

sēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of sēnsus