resent

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French resentir (now ressentir), also borrowed from Anglo-Norman resenter,^[2][3][4] from Old French resentir (“to feel again, feel in turn”),^[5][6][7] formed from re-, here an intensive prefix, and sentir (“to feel”),^[5][8][9] from Latin sentiō (“to feel, perceive”).^[6][8][10] In French the verb meant to feel in sympathy with someone, to feel the effects of something, and since 1558 to remember something with resentment.^[2] It is related to sense, sentiment and scent.^[9][11][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To feel something deeply or sharply, or as a cause of sorrow: 1595, in a letter of King James VI to Elizabeth I.^[2][12] Barnhart's first record is from 1605, for feeling pain or distress.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th and 18th centuries resent could mean to feel any strong emotion, good or bad: to feel sorrow or joy, to take something well or ill, to regret, and even to remember gratefully.^[9][2][12] Boyle wrote in 1648 that God "resents an infinite satisfaction" in his own will.^[9] Johnson (1755) still gave "to take well or ill" as the first sense.^[13] The modern sense, to feel injured or aggrieved by something, appears in 1612,^[2] or 1628–29 according to Barnhart,^[7] and gradually pushed out all the others.^[9][8] Weekley, quoting Trench, explained this by people's sense of injuries being stronger and more lasting than their sense of benefits.^[14] In Scots the old sense "to appreciate, applaud" lasted longer.^[15]

Timeline

• 1595 – to feel something deeply, as a cause of sorrow (obsolete by 1670).^[2]
• 1605 – reflexive, to feel pain or distress (obsolete by 1654).^[2][7]
• 1612 – to feel injured or aggrieved by something; also to avenge (obsolete).^[2]
• 1613 – to feel or experience an emotion (obsolete by 1770).^[2]
• 1618 – to regret an action (obsolete).^[2]
• 1628–29 – to feel angry at a wrong or insult, in Barnhart.^[7]
• 1755 – Johnson's first sense: to take well or ill.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To feel bitter, indignant or aggrieved about something or someone: He resented being left out of the meeting.^[10][12][2]
2. (obsolete, 1595–1670) To feel something deeply, as a cause of sorrow.^[2][3]
3. (obsolete, 1613–1770) To feel or experience an emotion.^[2][3][12]

Word family

• resentingly
• resentive
• unresented
• unresenting
• resentful

Related words

• resentment
• sense
• sentiment
• scent
• sentient

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)