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

• enPR: sĕn-sā'shən, IPA: /sɛnˈseɪʃən/

sensation

1. A physical feeling or perception from something that comes into contact with the body; something sensed.
   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:

     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.

2. (psychology, physiology) Excitation of sensory organs.

   Coordinate term: perception

3. A widespread reaction of interest or excitement.
   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case ↗”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC ↗; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831 ↗, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     “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. […] ”

4. (figurative, uncommon, dated) A remarkable person.

   Synonyms: event

   You truly are a sensation.

5. (slang, archaic) A small serving of gin or sherry.
   • 1852, George Butler Earp, Gold Seeker's Manual, page 52:

     A Sensation . . . . Half-a-glass of sherry.

   • 1869, Meliora, volume 12, page 47:

     When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'

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

• French: sensation
• German: Gefühl, Empfindung
• Italian: sensazione, senso, sensazione, impressione
• Portuguese: sensação
• Russian: ощуще́ние
• Spanish: sensación

• French: sensation
• German: Sensation
• Italian: sensazione, colpo, impressione, effetto sensazionale
• Portuguese: sensação
• Russian: сенса́ция