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sentiment

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsɛn.tɪ.mənt/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English sentement, borrowed from Old French sentement and directly from Medieval Latin sentīmentum, feeling, affection, opinion,[2][3][4] from Latin sentīre, to feel (see sense).[2][3][5] The modern spelling, from 1639, was influenced by modern French sentiment.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Personal experience, one's own feeling; physical sensation: about 1374 in the OED, about 1385 in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde in Barnhart.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The original sense was obsolete after Middle English,[3] and intention or inclination is from the early 15th century.[3] What one feels about something, a thought, opinion or attitude, is from 1639 (the 1630s), with the modern spelling,[2][3][6] and a wider sense, an opinion or view, from 1675.[6] Hoad dates refined and tender feeling to the 18th century,[4] and a thought coloured by emotion, especially in literature or art, is by 1709.[3] The 17th-century sense survives in my sentiments exactly.[3] Sentimental is from 1749, sentimentality from 1770 and sentimentalism from 1817.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – one's own feeling.[6]
  • early 15th century – intention.[3]
  • 1639 – an opinion or attitude.[2]
  • 1709 – emotional thought in art.[3]
  • 1749 – sentimental.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A view, opinion or attitude, especially one based on feeling.
  2. Tender, romantic or nostalgic feeling, sometimes excessively so.
  3. A general mental disposition: public sentiment.
  4. The emotional meaning of a passage or work.

Word family

  • sentimentless
  • presentiment
  • sentimental

Usage notes

In Lincolnshire and Norfolk dialect, sentiment was used for sediment.[7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ 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)