sententia

Latin

Etymology

Either from earlier *sentientia, from Proto-Italic *sentjentjā, equivalent to sentiens (“feeling, perceiving”) +‎ -ia; or from Proto-Italic *sententjā, a remnant of a PIE root aorist.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /senˈten.ti.a/, [s̠ɛn̪ˈt̪ɛn̪t̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /senˈten.t͡si.a/, [sen̪ˈt̪ɛnt̪͡s̪iä]

• Audio (Classical):

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Noun

sententia f (genitive sententiae); first declension

1. a way of thinking, view, opinion

   Synonyms: mēns, sēnsus

   Coordinate terms: opīniō, arbitrātum, auctōritās, cōgitātiō, exīstimātiō

   meā (quidem) sententiā ― (at least) in my view

   ex animī sententiā ― in my sincere opinion, in all honesty

   ex (meā etc.) sententiā ― to someone's liking

   adversum, praeter animī sententiam ― against someone's liking

   dē suā ūnīus sententiā ― on one's own initiative

2. a purpose, intention, will (one's thinking in respect to the future)

   Synonyms: cōnsilium, voluntās

3. (politics) a vote of opinion (expressed in senate in response to an interrogātiō)
   1. the vote of a juryman or of a jury

   Synonym: suffrāgium

   sententiam ferre ― to vote

   in sententiam alicuius īre ― to support somone's opinion or policy

4. (politics) an authoritative decision, pronouncement, judgement, decree

   Synonyms: dēcrētum, arbitrium, jūdicium, statūtum

5. a feeling, sense, idea, notion

   Synonym: cōgitātum

   55 BCE, Cicero, De Oratore 2.93:

   sententiīsque magis quam verbīs abundantēs

   overflowing with ideas rather than words to express them

   1. the main drift, substance; spirit of a law (as opposed to letter)
6. a thought expressed in words; a sense, meaning, signification

   Synonym: sēnsus

   1. any terse and pointed observation (esp. moralistic); a maxim, epigram

      Synonyms: praeceptum, adāgium

   2. (grammar) a self-contained group of words, a finished clause, sentence, period

      Synonyms: sēnsus, periodus

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sententia	sententiae
Genitive	sententiae	sententiārum
Dative	sententiae	sententiīs
Accusative	sententiam	sententiās
Ablative	sententiā	sententiīs
Vocative	sententia	sententiae

Derived terms

• sententiālis
• sententiola
• sententiōsus

 

Descendants

• → English: sentence
• → French: sentence
• → Hungarian: szentencia
• → Italian: sentenza
• → Russian: сенте́нция (sentɛ́ncija)
• → Portuguese: sentença
• → Spanish: sentencia

References

• “sententia” on page 1913 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “sententia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sententia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sententia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• sententia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • as one would wish; to one's mind: ex sententia
    
  • to abide by, persist in one's opinion: in sententia manere, permanere, perseverare, perstare
    
  • to give up one's opinion: a sententia sua discedere
    
  • to give up one's opinion: de sententia sua decedere
    
  • to give up one's opinion: (de) sententia desistere
    
  • to be forced to change one's mind: de sententia deici, depelli, deterreri
    
  • to make a man change his opinion: de sententia aliquem deducere, movere
    
  • to win a man over to one's own way of thinking: aliquem ad suam sententiam perducere or in suam sententiam adducere
    
  • to adopt some one's opinion: ad alicuius sententiam accedere, sententiam alicuius sequi
    
  • to freely express one's opinions: sententiam suam aperire
    
  • not to betray one's feelings by one's looks: sententiam fronte celare, tegere
    
  • I think that..: in hac sum sententia, ut...putem
    
  • to discuss a subject more fully on the same lines: plura in eam sententiam disputare
    
  • according to my opinion: mea (quidem) sententia
    
  • many men, many minds: quot homines, tot sententiae
    
  • according to my strong conviction: ex animi mei sententia (vid. sect. XI. 2)
    
  • to alter one's views, intentions: consilium, sententiam mutare
    
  • I am firmly resolved: stat mihi sententia (Liv. 21. 30.)
    
  • those views are out of date: illae sententiae evanuerunt
    
  • those ideas have long ago been given up: illae sententiae iam pridem explosae et eiectae sunt (Fin. 5. 8. 23)
    
  • to explain one's sentiments: sententias (verbis) explicare, aperire
    
  • profound sentiments: sententiae reconditae ex exquisitae (Brut. 97. 274)
    
  • richness of ideas: crebritas or copia (opp. inopia) sententiarum or simply copia
    
  • rich in ideas: sententiis abundans or creber (opp. sententiis inanis)
    
  • the connection: sententiae inter se nexae
    
  • the connection: contextus orationis (not nexus, conexus sententiarum)
    
  • the connection of thought: ratio sententiarum
    
  • the connection of thought: ratio, qua sententiae inter se excipiunt.
    
  • to answer to this effect: respondere in hanc sententiam
    
  • the sentence, proposition: enuntiatio, enuntiatum, sententia
    
  • what is the meaning, the original sense of this word: quae notio or sententia subiecta est huic voci?
    
  • to hold by the letter (of the law): verba ac litteras or scriptum (legis) sequi (opp. sententia the spirit)
    
  • the terms, contents of the letter are as follows: litterae in hanc sententiam or his verbis scriptae sunt
    
  • to love deeply: aliquem ex animo or ex animi sententia amare (Q. Fr. 1. 1. 5)
    
  • I swear on my conscience: ex animi mei sententia iuro
    
  • to vote (in the popular assembly): suffragium ferre (vid. sect. VI. 4, note Not sententiam...)
    
  • the spirit of the law: sententia or voluntas legis
    
  • to ask the opinion of..: sententiam rogare, interrogare
    
  • to give an opinion (also used of a judge, cf. sect. VI. 4): sententiam dicere
    
  • the senate inclines to the opinion, decides for..: senatus sententia inclīnat ad... (De Sen. 6. 16)
    
  • the majority were of the opinion..: sententia vincit (Liv. 2. 4. 3)
    
  • to vote for some one's motion: discedere (pedibus), ire in alicuius sententiam (Liv. 23. 10)
    
  • the finding of the jury: sententiae iudicum
    
  • to give sentence (of the judge, cf. sect. VI. 4, note Not...): sententiam ferre, dicere (Off. 3. 16. 66)
    
  • the tenor of his speech was this..: hanc in sententiam dixit