sensation

See also: Sensation

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛnseɪʃən/

• 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.
   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:

     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.

Hyponyms

• Wikisaurus:sensation

Related terms

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

Translations

physical feeling

• Chinese:

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

• Finnish: tunne (fi), tuntemus (fi)
• French: sensation (fr) f
• Georgian: შეგრძნება (šegrʒneba), გრძნობა (grʒnoba)
• German: Gefühl (de) n
• Italian: sensazione (it) f, senso (it) m, sensazione (it) f, impressione (it) f
• Japanese: 感覚 (ja) (かんかく, kankaku)
• Maori: ānini

• Marathi: संवेदना f (samvedana)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: følelse (no) m

• Polish: czucie (pl) n
• Portuguese: sensação (pt) 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

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 轟動 (zh), 轰动 (zh) (hōngdòng)

• Czech: senzace f
• Finnish: sensaatio (fi), kohu (fi)
• French: sensation (fr) f
• Georgian: სენსაცია (sensacia)
• German: Sensation (de) f
• 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 (saṃcalanaṃ)

Further reading

• sensation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• sensation in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• sensation at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Estonians, insonates

---

French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin sensationem, accusative of sensatio, from Latin sensus.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃sasjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

sensation f (plural sensations)

1. sensation

Further reading

• “sensation” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).