sensor

See also: Sensor and sensör

English

Etymology

Originated 1925–30, formed as a Latin loanword from sentiō (“to feel”) +‎ -tor (“-er”). By surface analysis, sense +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.sə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.sɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: censer, censor, senser
• Rhymes: -ɛnsə(ɹ)

Noun

sensor (plural sensors)

1. A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner.

   The smoke sensor triggered the alarm.

   Modern phones contain a light sensor that adjusts brightness.

   A motion sensor detected movement in the empty room.

Derived terms

• aptasensor
• chemosensor
• crossed loop sensor
• fluorosensor
• geosensor
• glucosensor
• gravisensor
• gyrosensor
• image sensor
• immunosensor
• intersensor
• intrasensor
• magnetosensor
• mechanosensor
• microsensor
• minisensor
• multisensor
• nanosensor
• neurosensor
• osmosensor
• phagosensor
• photosensor
• sensel
• sensor array
• sensorchip
• sensorgram
• sensorization
• sensorless
• sensorlike
• somatosensor
• thermosensor
• xenosensor

Related terms

• senser

Descendants

• → Finnish: sensori
• → Polish: sensor
• → Turkish: sensör

Translations

device or organ that detects certain external stimuli

• Arabic: حَسَّاس (ḥassās), جِهَازُ اِسْتِشْعَار (jihāzu istišʕār)
• Basque: sentsore
• Bulgarian: се́нзор (bg) m (sénzor), датчик m (datčik)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 傳感器 / 传感器 (zh) (chuángǎnqì)

• Danish: føler c, sensor c
• Esperanto: sensilo
• Estonian: andur (device)
• Finnish: anturi (fi), tunnistin (fi) (device); aistin (fi); tuntoelin (organ), sensori (fi)
• French: détecteur (fr), capteur (fr) m
• German: Sensor (de) m
• Hungarian: érzékelő (hu)
• Irish: braiteoir m
• Italian: sensore (it) m
• Japanese: センサー (ja) (sensā), センサ (ja) (sensa)
• Kazakh: бергіш (bergış)
• Korean: 센서 (senseo)
• Macedonian: сетилник (mk) m (setilnik)
• Māori: paerongo, pūoko
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sensor (no) m

  Nynorsk: sensor m

• Polish: sensor (pl) m
• Portuguese: sensor (pt) m
• Romanian: senzor (ro) m (device)
• Russian: се́нсор (ru) m (sɛ́nsor)
• Serbo-Croatian: osjetnik (sh) m (device), osjetilo (sh) n (organ)
• Spanish: sensor (es) m
• Swedish: sensor (sv) c
• Turkish: duyarga (tr), sensör (tr)
• Ukrainian: се́нсор m (sénsor)
• Vietnamese: cảm biến (vi)

References

• “sensor”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “sensor”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "sensor" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• Ensors, nosers, senors, serons, snores

Chinese

Etymology

Borrowed from English sensor.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sen¹ saa²

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sen¹ saa²
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sen¹ saa²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛːn⁵⁵ saː³⁵/

Noun

sensor

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) sensor

Synonyms

• (Hong Kong) 感應器／感应器 (gǎnyìngqì)
• (Mainland China) 傳感器／传感器 (chuángǎnqì)
• (Taiwan) 感測器／感测器 (gǎncèqì)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English sensor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.zɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sen‧sor
• Rhymes: -ɛnzɔr
• Homophone: censor

Noun

sensor m (plural sensoren or sensors, diminutive sensortje n)

1. sensor [from ca. 1960s]

Derived terms

• bewegingssensor
• warmtesensor

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛnsɔr]
• Hyphenation: sèn‧sor
• Rhymes: -ɔr

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch censor, from Latin censor.

Noun

sènsor (plural sensor-sensor)

1. censor, an official responsible for the removal of objectionable or sensitive content
2. censoring, an act of censorship

Derived terms

• bersensor
• menyensor
• penyensor
• penyensoran
• sensoran
• tersensor

• sensor film
• sensor parkir
• sensor represif
• sensor sukarela

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch sensor, from English sensor.

Noun

sènsor (plural sensor-sensor)

1. sensor, a device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner

Derived terms

• sensor cahaya
• sensor inframerah
• sensor kamera
• sensor monokrom
• sensor optik
• sensor ultrasonik

Related terms

• sensori
• sensorik
• sensoris

Further reading

• “sensor”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Latin censor.

Noun

sensor m (definite singular sensoren, indefinite plural sensorer, definite plural sensorene)

1. a censor
2. an examiner (education, of exam papers)

Etymology 2

From English sensor.

Noun

sensor m (definite singular sensoren, indefinite plural sensorer, definite plural sensorene)

1. a sensor (device)

References

• “sensor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sensur/

Etymology 1

From Latin censor.

Noun

sensor m (definite singular sensoren, indefinite plural sensorar, definite plural sensorane)

1. a censor
2. an examiner (education, of exam papers)

Etymology 2

From English sensor.

Noun

sensor m (definite singular sensoren, indefinite plural sensorar, definite plural sensorane)

1. a sensor (device)

References

• “sensor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

English sensorbor.

Polish sensor

Borrowed from English sensor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.sɔr/
• Rhymes: -ɛnsɔr
• Syllabification: sen‧sor

Noun

sensor m inan

1. sensor (automatic warning device, sensitive to changes in certain physical quantities)

   Synonyms: czujka, czujnik, receptor

Declension

Declension of sensor

	singular	plural
nominative	sensor	sensory
genitive	sensora	sensorów
dative	sensorowi	sensorom
accusative	sensor	sensory
instrumental	sensorem	sensorami
locative	sensorze	sensorach
vocative	sensorze	sensory

Derived terms

noun

• biosensor

Further reading

• “sensor”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “sensor”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoʁ/ [sẽˈsoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoʁ/ [sẽˈsoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoʁ/ [sẽˈsoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈso.ɾi/

• Homophone: censor

Noun

sensor m (plural sensores)

1. sensor (device or organ that detects certain external stimuli)

Related terms

• senso

Further reading

• “sensor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sensor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /senˈsoɾ/ [sẽnˈsoɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: sen‧sor
• Homophone: (Latin America) censor

Adjective

sensor (feminine sensora, masculine plural sensores, feminine plural sensoras)

1. acting as a sensor

Noun

sensor m (plural sensores)

1. sensor

Related terms

• sensorial
• sensorio

Further reading

• “sensor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English sensor.

Noun

sensor c

1. a sensor

Declension

Declension of sensor

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	sensor	sensors
	definite	sensorn	sensorns
plural	indefinite	sensorer	sensorers
	definite	sensorerna	sensorernas

Related terms

• temperatursensor

See also

• detektor
• givare
• indikator

References

• “sensor”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “sensor”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• rosens, senors