Etymologically
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sensibility

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌsɛn(t)sɪˈbɪlɪti/[1]
  • US: /ˌsɛn(t)səˈbɪləti/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sensibilite,[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French sensibilité[5][3][2][4] and directly borrowed from Late Latin sēnsibilitās (“perception, sensitiveness, sensation”),[5][6][7] from sēnsibilis (“perceptible by the senses; having feeling”),[8][5][7] the source of sensible, from sēnsus, the past participle of sentiō (“to perceive, feel”).[8][2] The French word is recorded from 1314,[5] and the Anglo-Norman one possibly from the mid-13th century, for perception through the senses and the sense of touch.[9] The Latin noun is recorded from the 4th century.[5] Compare Spanish sensibilidad and Italian sensibilità.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sensible image of an outside thing, imprinted on the brain in perception: about 1400, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.[5] Etymonline gives the late 14th century for "capability of being perceived by the senses" and "ability to sense or perceive".[8]

Semantic evolution

In late Middle English the word meant both "capability of being perceived by the senses" (rare after the 17th century) and the power of sensation; from the early 15th century also mental perception or awareness.[5][8][6] Etymonline calls it a rare word until the 18th century, when it came to mean emotional consciousness (1751), especially a capacity for refined feeling;[8] the OED's first record of emotional susceptibility is from the Douay Bible of 1609.[5] The OED compares the later senses of sensibilité, such as emotional attachment (1662) and compassion (1678).[5] The cult of excessive or affected sensitivity gave a sense now archaic, recorded from 1735.[5][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "quickness of sensation" and "quickness of perception".[10] The plural, for a person's feelings, is recorded from 1634; in Gray, in 1767, it is used for feelings liable to be offended.[5] In philosophy it has meant the capacity for sensation as distinct from understanding since 1610, and in the work of Kant it renders German Sinnlichkeit.[5] According to Etymonline, by the early 20th century the French form sensibilité was also used in English for its refinement.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – a sensible image in the brain (obsolete), in Chaucer's Boethius.[5]
  • before 1425 – capability of being perceived by the senses.[5][8]
  • c. 1425 – the power of sensation; mental perception or awareness.[5]
  • 1609 – emotional or artistic susceptibility.[5]
  • 1610 – philosophy, capacity for sensation as distinct from understanding.[5]
  • 1634 – plural, emotional capacities or feelings.[5]
  • 1663 – of an instrument or substance, readiness to respond to physical forces.[5]
  • 1735 – excessive or affected sensitivity.[5]
  • 1767 – plural, feelings liable to be offended, in Gray.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The capacity to respond to emotional or aesthetic influences; refined awareness: a poet's sensibility.[11][3][5][4]
  2. Often in the plural, a person's moral, emotional or aesthetic feelings, especially as liable to be offended: The film's violence upset some viewers' sensibilities.[11][5][3][6]
  3. The ability to feel or perceive; responsiveness to stimuli.[11][3][5]
  4. Mental responsiveness; discernment or awareness.[11][5]
  5. Of an instrument, the readiness to respond to slight changes; sensitivity.[5]
  6. Of a plant, the condition of being susceptible to outside influences, especially to parasites.[11][5]
  7. (archaic) Excessive or affected sensitivity.[5][6]

Word family

  • hypersensibility
  • nonsensibility
  • unsensibility

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes sensibility, especially the capacity to respond to aesthetic and emotional stimuli, from susceptibility, the quality of being impressionable, whose plural comes close to sensibilities;[4] sensitiveness, the capacity to feel and respond to outside stimuli; and sensitivity, a capacity to be affected by physical or chemical action or by the reactions of others.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins