Etymologically
Log in

sensilis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsẽː.sɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛn.si.lis][1]

Forms

sēnsilis (neuter sēnsile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sentiō (“to feel, perceive”) + -ilis, formed on the participle stem ⟨sēns-⟩.[2][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *snt-ie/o- or *sént-i- (“to notice”), connecting it with Balto-Slavic words for thinking.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Lucretius,[3][4] who uses it of what is capable of sensation, warning against the belief that the sentient (sēnsile) is born from the insentient.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is rare in Classical Latin: Lucretius uses it several times in the second book of De rerum natura beside its opposite īnsēnsilis.[5][7][3] Chalcidius uses it for what can be perceived by the senses, and the neuter plural sēnsilia for sensible things.[7][8]

Medieval writers in Britain used it in both senses, of a sentient being and of what is perceptible, and spoke of the mundus sēnsilis, the world of the senses.[9]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of things capable of sensation.[5][3][4]
  • c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses the neuter plural for things perceived by the senses.[7][8][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Capable of sensation, sentient.[2][5][9]
  2. (Late Latin) Perceptible by the senses;[7][8][9] sēnsilia, things perceived by the senses.[7][8][9]

Word family

  • insensilis

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press