Dictionary

sense

Etymology

From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san; partly from Latin sēnsus, from sentiō; partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus, from Frankish *sinn .

Pronunciation

enPR: sĕns, IPA: /sɛn(t)s/
(pin-pen) IPA: /sɪn(t)s/

Noun

sense

Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
  Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
  What surmounts the reach / Of human sense I shall delineate.
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.
a sense of security
- a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC ↗:
  this Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
  high disdain from sense of injured merit
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XLIII, page 66 ↗:
  The days have vanish’d, tone and tint,
  ⁠And yet perhaps the hoarding sense
  ⁠Gives out at times (he knows not whence)
  A little flash, a mystic hint; […]
Sound practical or moral judgment.
It’s common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.
- 1692, Roger L'Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC ↗:
  some People so Harden'd in Wickedness, as to have No Sense at all of the most Friendly Offices, or the Highest Benefits.
The meaning, reason, or value of something.
You don’t make any sense.
1. Any particular meaning of a word, among its various meanings.
  Hyponyms: subsense, subsubsense
  word sense disambiguation
  the various senses of the word “car” (e.g., motor car, elevator car, railcar)
2. (semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries or definitions for a word in a dictionary.
  - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Nehemiah 8:8 ↗:
    So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense.
  - c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
    I think ’twas in another sense.
A natural appreciation or ability.
A keen musical sense
(pragmatics) The way that a referent is presented.
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
(biochemistry) referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.