sensibile

Forms

sensibile (plural sensibili; superlative sensibilissimo)^[1] An old form is Old Italian sensibole.^[2]

Etymology

The word is learned: it is borrowed from Latin sensibilis (“perceptible; endowed with senses”).^[3][4][5][1] Wiktionary takes it from the Late Latin use of the word.^[1] The Latin adjective had both a passive sense, “that can be perceived by the senses”, and an active one, “able to perceive”, and Italian kept both.^[4][6] It is formed from sēnsus, the past participle of sentiō (“to perceive, feel”), with the suffix -bilis.^[7][8][5] The same Latin word gave French sensible and Spanish sensible.^[4] Treccani holds that sensible influenced some of the Italian senses.^[6][9]

Sensibilis is recorded from Lucretius on.^[10] De Vaan derives sentiō from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to notice”), with cognates in Lithuanian sintėti (“to think”) and Old Church Slavonic сѧштъ (sęštĭ, “sensible, wise”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Guittone, before 1294, with the sense “perceived through the senses”.^[3] In Dante (1304–1308) it also means “receiving impressions through the senses”, and Dante speaks of the mondo sensibile, the world of the senses, in the Paradiso.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Italian the word belonged to philosophy: Buti glossed sensibile as what is understood through the senses.^[2][11] From “perceptible” it came to mean “noticeable, considerable” by the late 16th century (Sassetti, before 1588).^[3]

The modern emotional sense, of a person who feels situations intensely, is recorded in Segneri in 1686.^[3] The 19th century added technical senses: light-sensitive photographic paper (carta sensibile, 1839) and a measuring instrument that responds to small changes (1873).^[3] Recent uses include dati sensibili, data about a person's private life and beliefs, and obiettivo sensibile, a place at risk of attack.^[5][12]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Guittone uses sensibile for what is perceived through the senses.^[3]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for what receives impressions through the senses.^[3]
• Before 1588 – Sassetti uses it in the sense “considerable”.^[3]
• 1686 – Segneri uses it of a person who feels emotions intensely.^[3]
• 1839 – Carta sensibile, light-sensitive paper, is recorded in the Biblioteca italiana.^[3]
• 1873 – Tommaseo–Bellini records the sense used of measuring instruments.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. perceptible through the senses, belonging to the physical world: il mondo sensibile.^[13][5][14]
2. noticeable, appreciable, considerable: un sensibile calo delle vendite.^[13][14][12]
3. Able to receive impressions through the sense organs.^[13][14][12]
4. sensitive or responsive to something (with a): sensibile al freddo, sensibile al rumore.^[13][12][9]
5. Of a person, sensitive, easily moved by feelings.^[13][12][15]
6. Of a measuring instrument, responding to small changes in the quantity measured.^[12][15]
7. (photography) Coated with an emulsion that reacts to light: carta sensibile.^[12][15]
8. Of information, touching a person's private life or beliefs: dati sensibili.^[5][12]
9. (microbiology) Of bacteria, susceptible to an antibiotic.^[13]

Noun

1. (philosophy, masculine) What can be perceived by the senses, as opposed to the intelligible.^[13][6]
2. (music, feminine) The leading tone.^[1]

Word family

• sensibilità
• sensibilizzare
• insensibile
• sensibilmente
• sensibilizzazione
• ipersensibile
• ultrasensibile
• soprasensibile

Related words

• senso
• sentire
• sensitivo
• Latin sensibilis
• French sensible

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli