sensuous

Etymology

It is formed from English sense + -ous,^[2][3] more exactly from Latin sēnsus (“feeling, sense”) and the English suffix,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} the noun being from sentiō (“to perceive, feel”).^[5] It was apparently coined by Milton, to avoid the sexual associations that sensual had acquired.^{[4][5][9][2][8]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the senses, or derived from them: 1641, in Milton's Of Reformation.^[4] Merriam-Webster gives 1640, and Etymonline the 1640s.^[6][10][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was not in common use until the 19th century.^[9] Johnson (1755) read it as "tender; pathetick; full of passion", and in 1773 marked it as out of use.^[11] It was Coleridge who adopted it,^[4][5] and according to Etymonline he made it popular in 1814, to express all that belongs to perception taken as passive.^[5] Etymonline adds that the OED reports no evidence of its use in between.^[5] A single 1809 use by Lady Morgan probably means "full of tender or passionate feelings".^[4] Its later senses moved towards the pleasures of the senses.^[4][5] Pleasure "received through the senses" is recorded from 1821, "readily affected by the senses" from 1836, and "attractive to the senses" and a life devoted to their gratification from 1858.^[4] Etymonline says that by 1870 it had come to mean alive to the pleasures of the senses.^[5] The OED notes considerable overlap between sensuous and sensual since the mid 19th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1641 – of or relating to the senses; derived from the senses.^[4] Merriam-Webster gives 1640.^[6]
• 1809 – probably full of tender or passionate feelings (obsolete).^[4]
• 1818 – noun, the sensuous, that which is sensuous.^[4]
• 1821 – of pleasure, received through the senses.^[4]
• 1836 – readily affected by the senses.^[4]
• 1853 – of a belief or concept, based on what the senses perceive; material.^[4]
• 1858 – gratifying to the senses; of a way of life, devoted to their gratification.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pleasing to the senses, especially in an aesthetic way: the sensuous feel of warm velvet.^{[12][9][6][10]}
2. Relating to the senses or derived from them; sensory.^{[12][9][6][4]}
3. Marked by images or impressions that appeal to the senses: sensuous poetry.^[10][6]
4. Keenly responsive to pleasures of the senses.^[9][10][4]
5. Sexually attractive.^[12]

Noun

1. the sensuous: that which is sensuous.^[4]

Word family

• sensuosity
• sensuously
• sensuousness
• antisensuous
• hypersensuous
• nonsensuous
• unsensuous
• supersensuous

Related words

• sense
• sensible
• sensual

Usage notes

Sensuous was apparently made to keep clear of sensual, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate still says that it implies gratification of the senses for aesthetic pleasure,^[4][10] but the OED warns that in practice the meanings of the pair have overlapped considerably since the mid 19th century.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt