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Sense

//sɛns// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste. countable, uncountable

    "Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep."

  2. 2
    sound practical judgment wordnet
  3. 3
    Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness. countable, uncountable

    "a sense of security"

  4. 4
    the faculty through which the external world is apprehended wordnet
  5. 5
    Sound practical or moral judgment. countable, uncountable

    "It’s common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven."

Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    a general conscious awareness wordnet
  2. 7
    The meaning, reason, or value of something. countable, uncountable

    "You don’t make any sense."

  3. 8
    a natural appreciation or ability wordnet
  4. 9
    The meaning, reason, or value of something.; A meaning of a term (word or expression), among its various meanings. countable, uncountable

    "the various senses of the word “car” (e.g., motor car, elevator car, railcar)"

  5. 10
    the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted wordnet
  6. 11
    The meaning, reason, or value of something.; A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries or definitions for a word in a dictionary. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    A natural appreciation or ability. countable, uncountable

    "A keen musical sense"

  8. 13
    The way that a referent is presented. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity. countable, uncountable
  10. 15
    One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise. countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
  2. 2
    discern wordnet
  3. 3
    To instinctively be aware.

    "She immediately sensed her disdain."

  4. 4
    become aware of not through the senses but instinctively wordnet
  5. 5
    To comprehend.
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles wordnet
  2. 7
    detect some circumstance or entity automatically wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus (“sense, reason, way”), from Frankish *sinn ("reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction"; whence also Dutch zin, German Sinn, Swedish sinne, Norwegian sinn). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus (“sense, reason, way”), from Frankish *sinn ("reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction"; whence also Dutch zin, German Sinn, Swedish sinne, Norwegian sinn). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

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