Skip to the word

Added 5 October 2026

sense

/sɛns/ noun

In Latin: sentiō Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sense at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.
a sense of security
Sound practical or moral judgment.
It’s common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.

verb

To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
To instinctively be aware.
She immediately sensed her disdain.
To comprehend.

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word