sentimentality

English

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sent-der.

Proto-Italic *sentiō

Latin sentiō

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom

Proto-Italic *-mentom

Latin -mentum

Latin sentimentumder.

Old French sentementder.

English sentiment

English -al

English sentimental

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ts

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts

Latin -itāsder.

Old French -itebor.

Middle English -ite

English -ity

English sentimentality

From sentimental + -ity. The music sense is a calque of German Empfindsamkeit.

sentimentality (countable and uncountable, plural sentimentalities)

(countable) An act or state of being sentimental.
- 2021 July 29, Mike Hale, “Review: ‘The Pursuit of Love’ Against All Odds”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:
  Things that were implicit and largely unjudged in the book, filtered through layers of stiff-upper-lip irony — Fanny’s self-pity, Linda’s obliviousness — are now foregrounded and, for the most part, rendered banal, with “Beaches”-level platitudes and sentimentality.
(uncountable, historical, music, art) Synonym of Empfindsamkeit.

act of being sentimental