sens

sens¹ sense, meaning

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɑ̃s/^[1]

Forms

sens m (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

The word for sense and meaning is borrowed from Latin sēnsus (“perception; feeling; way of thinking; idea; meaning”), the action noun of sentiō (“to perceive, feel”).^[2][3][4][5] It absorbed Old French sen, a Germanic word, which survives in assener and forcené.^[2][4][6] Wiktionary treats the Old French word as partly from the Latin and partly from Frankish *sinn.^[1] “Sens commun” (Rabelais, 1534) is a calque of sēnsus commūnis.^[4]

Compare Italian senso, Spanish seso and Portuguese siso.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means the faculty of judging, reason: À bien petit que il ne pert le sens (“he very nearly loses his wits”).^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

Rey describes three lines of development already present in the 12th century: reason, sensation and meaning.^[3] Philippe de Thaon (1119) uses it for an opinion, for each of the bodily senses and for the meaning of a word, Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence names les cinc sens (1174–1176).^[2] The sense “reason” gradually became archaic, leaving bon sens (about 1150) and sens commun, as well as perdre le sens and être hors du sens (1306).^[2][3]

Tomber sous le sens is in Bossuet (1661), reprendre ses sens in Racine (1667) and les plaisirs des sens in Pascal (1669).^[2] Fontenelle (1686) spoke of a sixième sens, and Rousseau (1762) used it for intuition.^[2][8] Double sens is found in Corneille (1634), and Furetière (1690) distinguishes sens propre and sens figuré.^[9][2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – “Reason”, in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1119 – A bodily sense; the meaning of a word, in Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• c. 1150 – Boin sens.^[2]
• 1534 – Sens commun in Rabelais.^[2][4]
• 1634 – Double sens in Corneille.^[9]
• 1661 – Tomber sous le sens in Bossuet.^[2]
• 1690 – Sens propre, sens figuré in Furetière.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sense, a faculty of perception: les cinq sens, les organes des sens.^[8][10]
2. (plural) The senses as a source of physical, especially sexual, pleasure: les plaisirs des sens.^[11]
3. An intuitive feeling for something: le sens des nuances, le sens pratique.^[11][2]
4. Judgement, reason: le bon sens, le sens commun.^[2][3]
5. The meaning of a word or sign: sens propre, sens figuré, double sens.^[11][2]
6. À mon sens: in my opinion, tomber sous le sens: to be obvious.^[1][8]
7. Le sixième sens: intuition.^[8]

Word family

• sensé
• insensé
• contresens
• non-sens

sens² direction

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɑ̃s/^[1]

Forms

sens m (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

The word for direction is Old French sen (“way, direction”), borrowed from Frankish *sinn (“direction”), influenced by the word for sense.^{[12][8][4][1]} Bloch and Wartburg note that this sense is peculiar to French and appears in the 12th century in phrases such as “en mal sens” and “en tuz sens”; they think the Germanic word, the ancestor of German Sinn, probably owed its own intellectual sense to Latin “sēnsus”.^[4] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-West Germanic *sinn.^[1] Littré already derived the Old French “sen” from Germanic.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

As sen it is found in the early 12th century; the GLLF dates the sense of a privileged direction to the Roman d'Eneas (about 1130), and Chrétien de Troyes has Je ne tornerai autre san (“I will not turn another way”).^[12][13][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “direction of a movement” is in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1160).^[13] Sens dessus dessous (16th century) is a respelling of cen dessus dessous, in which cen was ce + en (“what was above, below”).^[8][4][7] Road traffic brought sens interdit (early 20th century) and sens unique (recorded in 1933).^[13]

Timeline

• early 12th century – Sen “direction”.^[12][8]
• c. 1160 – The direction of a movement, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[13]
• 1607 – Sens dessus dessous in Maupas.^[4]
• 1933 – Sens unique in Larousse.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A direction: dans le sens de la flèche, en sens inverse, dans tous les sens.^[13][8]
2. A way, side along which something lies: dans le sens de la longueur, le sens du bois.^[8]
3. Sens unique, sens interdit: one-way street; no entry.^[13]
4. Sens dessus dessous: upside down; in total disorder.^[8][4]
5. Caresser dans le sens du poil: to stroke the right way, (figurative) to flatter.^[8][1]

Related words

• sensation
• sensualité
• sentir
• Latin sēnsus

Usage notes

The final /s/ is now pronounced, [sɑ̃s], Littré still prescribed [sɑ̃], and the restored /s/ became general only in the early 20th century, although Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 17th.^{[2][6][12][4]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 463a
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse