Etymologically
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sensation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɛnˈseɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sensation and directly Medieval Latin sēnsātiō (“perception”),[2][3] from sēnsātus (“endowed with sense, sensible”) (see sensate),[2][3][4] from Latin sēnsus (“feeling”) (see sense).[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An operation of one of the senses, a physical feeling: 1615, in Helkiah Crooke's A Description of the Body of Man,[3][7][4] the 1610s in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, the faculty of receiving impressions through the senses, is attested by the 1640s.[2][7] An emotion or mental feeling is from 1755.[7] A state of shock, surprise or excited interest in a community is recorded by 1779,[2] and the thing or person that causes such excitement by 1864.[2] The adjective sensational followed in the 19th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1615 – a physical feeling.[7][3]
  • 1642 – perception by the senses in general.[7]
  • 1755 – an emotion.[7]
  • 1779 – public excitement.[2]
  • 1864 – something that causes excitement.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A perception caused by stimulation of a sense organ or by a bodily condition: a sensation of warmth.
  2. The power of feeling or perceiving through the senses.
  3. A vague general feeling or awareness.
  4. A state of widespread public excitement or interest, or a person or thing that causes it.

Word family

  • sensationless
  • resensation
  • aftersensation
  • sensationism
  • subsensation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press