sensation

See also: Sensation

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Medieval Latin sensatio, from Latin sensus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĕn-sā'shən, IPA^(key): /sɛnˈseɪʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

sensation (countable and uncountable, plural sensations)

1. A physical feeling or perception from something that comes into contact with the body; something sensed.
   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

   • 1921, Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind:

     Confining ourselves, for the moment, to sensations, we find that there are different degrees of publicity attaching to different sorts of sensations. If you feel a toothache when the other people in the room do not, you are in no way surprised; but if you hear a clap of thunder when they do not, you begin to be alarmed as to your mental condition.

2. A widespread reaction of interest or excitement.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Tremarn Case‎^[1]:

     “Two or three months more went by; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […] ”

   • 1937, H. P. Lovecraft, The Thing on the Doorstep:

     Young Derby's odd genius developed remarkably, and in his eighteenth year his collected nightmare-lyrics made a real sensation when issued under the title Azathoth and Other Horrors.

3. (figurative, uncommon, dated) A remarkable person.

   You truly are a sensation.

   Synonym: event

4. (slang, archaic) A small serving of gin or sherry.
   • 1852, George Butler Earp, Gold Seeker's Manual, page 52:

     A Sensation . . . . Half-a-glass of sherry.

   • 1869, Meliora, volume 12, page 47:

     When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'

Hyponyms

• Thesaurus:sensation

Related terms

• sensational
• sensation fiction
• sensation novel
• sense
• sensible
• sensitive
• sensory
• sensual

Translations

physical feeling

• Bulgarian: усещане (bg) n (useštane), чувство (bg) n (čuvstvo)
• Catalan: sensació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 感覺／感觉 (zh) (gǎnjué), 知覺／知觉 (zh) (zhījué)

• Finnish: tunne (fi), tuntemus (fi)
• French: sensation (fr) f
• Georgian: შეგრძნება (šegrʒneba), გრძნობა (grʒnoba)
• German: Gefühl (de) n, Empfindung (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: αἴσθησις f (aísthēsis)

• Hungarian: érzés (hu), érzékelés (hu)
• Italian: sensazione (it) f, senso (it) m, sensazione (it) f, impressione (it) f
• Japanese: 感覚 (ja) (かんかく, kankaku)
• Ladino: sansasyon
• Maori: ānini
• Marathi: संवेदना f (sauvednā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: følelse (no) m

• Polish: czucie (pl) n
• Portuguese: sensação (pt) f
• Romanian: senzație (ro) f
• Russian: ощуще́ние (ru) n (oščuščénije), чу́вство (ru) n (čúvstvo) (the first в is silent)
• Scottish Gaelic: faireachdainn f
• Spanish: sensación (es)
• Swedish: känsla (sv) c, förnimmelse (sv) c

widespread excitement

• Belarusian: сенса́цыя f (sjensácyja)
• Bulgarian: сензация (bg) f (senzacija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 轟動／轰动 (zh) (hōngdòng)

• Czech: senzace (cs) f
• Finnish: sensaatio (fi), kohu (fi)
• French: sensation (fr) f
• Georgian: სენსაცია (sensacia)
• German: Sensation (de) f
• Hungarian: szenzáció (hu)
• Italian: sensazione (it) f, colpo (it) m, impressione (it) f, effetto sensazionale m
• Japanese: 感動 (ja) (kandō), センセーション (ja) (sensēshon)
• Manx: ard-haghyrt
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sensasjon m

  Nynorsk: sensasjon m

• Polish: sensacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: sensação (pt) f
• Russian: сенса́ция (ru) f (sensácija)
• Swedish: sensation (sv) c
• Telugu: సంచలనం (sañcalanaṁ)
• Ukrainian: сенса́ція f (sensácija)

References

• (small serving of gin): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

Further reading

• “sensation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “sensation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• sensation at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Estonians, insonates

French

Etymology

Inherited from Medieval Latin sensationem, accusative of sensatio, from Latin sēnsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

sensation f (plural sensations)

1. sensation

Derived terms

• faire sensation
• sensation forte

Further reading

• “sensation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Swedish

Noun

sensation c

1. a sensation ((something causing) widespread excitement)
2. a sensation (perception)

   Synonym: sinnesintryck

Declension

Declension of sensation
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	sensation	sensationen	sensationer	sensationerna
Genitive	sensations	sensationens	sensationers	sensationernas

References

• sensation in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sensation in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sensation in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)