English
sensation
Sensation comes from Latin sensus ‘perception, feeling, sensation’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sent-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-‘to perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsensus‘perception, feeling, sensation’
- Englishearliest quotation 1822sensation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-‘to perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsensus‘perception, feeling, sensation’
- Englishearliest quotation 1822sensation
Earliest quotation: 1822, John Barclay, Ancient and Modern: “In the dead state all is apparently without motion.…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to perceive’
through Proto-Italic *sentiō ‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’
through Latin sentiō ‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
sentence, sensitive, consent, scent, sentiment, sensible, consensus, sensor, resent, senseless, sensibility, assent, sentient, sentience, antisense, 30 more
through Latin sensus ‘perception, feeling, sensation’
Today it means
noun A physical feeling or perception from something that comes into contact with the body; something sensed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sent- / sensation