Etymologically
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sentence

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈsen.təns/, US /ˈsen.t̬əns/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French sentence (“judgment, decision; meaning; maxim”) (12th century),[2][3] and directly from Latin sententia (“thought, opinion; judgment; a thought expressed, a saying”),[2][3][4] an irregular, dissimilated formation from sentientem, present participle of sentīre “to feel, perceive, be of opinion”,[2][3][5] the source of sense.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Doctrine, authoritative teaching”: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle,[3] about 1200 in Etymonline.[2] The OED's first sense, “way of thinking, opinion”, is from 1340.[6]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline traces the Latin meanings from “way of perceiving in the mind” to “opinion” to “decision, judgment”.[2] In English a judgment rendered by God or by one in authority, and a court's verdict, are from the early 14th century,[2] and the punishment imposed by a court from about 1300 in Barnhart,[3] about 1340 in the OED.[6] “Understanding, wisdom, edifying matter”, frequent in Chaucer, is from the late 14th century and now obsolete,[2] as is a pithy saying or maxim, from about 1380.[6][4] An utterance or statement is from before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible,[3] and the grammatical sense, a statement with a subject and predicate, from before 1398 in Barnhart,[3] the 15th century in Hoad,[4] common from about 1600 in Etymonline.[2] The verb, to pass judgment, is from 1413,[3] about 1400 in the OED,[6] and to condemn to a punishment from the 1590s.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – doctrine, teaching.[3][2]
  • c. 1300 – a court's punishment.[3]
  • 1340 – opinion.[6]
  • c. 1380 – a maxim.[6]
  • a. 1382 – an utterance.[3]
  • a. 1398 – a grammatical sentence.[3]
  • 1413 – verb, to pass judgment.[3]
  • 1590s – verb, to condemn.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A grammatical unit, with a subject and a predicate containing a finite verb, that expresses a complete thought.
  2. A court's judgment, especially the punishment given to a convicted person.
  3. (archaic) A maxim or opinion.

Verb

  1. To pronounce a sentence on (a convicted person): sentenced to ten years.

Word family

  • sentential
  • sententially
  • sentencer
  • minor sentence
  • sententious
  • sense
  • sentiment
  • sentient
  • consent

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press