Etymologically
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senso

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Pronunciation

Forms

senso m (plural sensi)[1] Old Italian also had a plural le sensora (13th century, Iacopone).[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sēnsus (“perception, feeling; meaning”), a learned word, from the past participle of sentiō (“to perceive, feel”), the source of sentire.[4][5][6][1] The inherited outcomes of the Latin noun are Spanish seso (“brain”) and Portuguese siso (“judgement”), whereas French sens is learned, like the Italian word.[5][2][7] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *s(e)nt-ije/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to notice”), and points to Balto-Slavic words for “to think”.[8]

The sense “direction”, and with it the road signs ⟨senso unico⟩ and ⟨senso vietato⟩, follows French sens (used for direction from 1130), sens unique (1933) and sens interdit (early 20th century).[4][9] The philosophical ⟨senso comune⟩ renders Latin sensus communis.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni's Libro de' vizî e delle virtudi, before 1292, for the faculty of receiving impressions from outside.[4][6] Dante writes in the Vita nuova that the poets have spoken to lifeless things “as if they had sense and reason” (sì come se avessero senso e ragione).[10]

Semantic evolution

The meaning “sense of a word or sentence” is in Dante, before 1321.[4] In the plural the word came to mean consciousness (14th century) and sensuality (Petrarch, before 1374).[4] The sense “direction” appears in Torricelli before 1647, and in 1873 Tommaseo still rejected muoversi in questo senso as foreign and useless.[4] A vague physical or mental sensation (un senso di stanchezza) is recorded from 1733, and the colloquial “disgust” (mi fa senso) is modern.[4][6] The English word sensuous lies behind Italian sensuoso, and French behind sensazionale and sensoriale.[4]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses senso for the faculty of perception.[4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the meaning of a word.[4]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses sensi for sensuality.[4]
  • Before 1647 – Torricelli uses it for “direction”.[4]
  • 1733 – Del Papa uses it for a vague sensation.[4]
  • 1873 – Tommaseo condemns the sense “direction”.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The faculty of perception; each of the senses: i cinque sensi, organi di senso.[6][9][11]
  2. (plural) Consciousness: perdere i sensi, to faint, riprendere i sensi, to come round.[9][1]
  3. (plural) Physical, especially sexual, desire; sensuality: i piaceri dei sensi.[6][9]
  4. A vague physical or mental feeling: un senso di freddo.[6][9]
  5. (colloquial) disgust, revulsion: Le lumache mi fanno senso.[6]
  6. An instinctive ability to judge or appreciate something: senso dell'umorismo, senso pratico; awareness: senso del dovere.[6][1]
  7. meaning, significance; good sense: Non ha senso., in senso lato.[6][9][1]
  8. direction, way: senso unico, in senso orario.[9][11][1]
  9. (plural) In the formal closing of letters, sentiments: con i sensi della più alta stima.[6]

Word family

  • sensismo
  • sensista
  • sensistico
  • nonsenso

Usage notes

Common phrases include buon senso “common sense”, doppio senso “double meaning”, sesto senso “sixth sense”, ai sensi di “under (a law)” and in un certo senso “in a way”.[6][1] Old Italian had a feminine plural le sensora.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3455
  3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 636
  11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse