sensitivus

Forms

sēnsitīvus (feminine sēnsitīva, neuter sēnsitīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sentiō (“to feel, perceive”), a formation Wiktionary calls irregular.^[1][2] Etymonline derives it from the participle sēnsus.^[3] The DMLBS marks it as Late Latin, Wiktionary as Medieval Latin.^[4][1] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *s(e)nt-ije/o- and Proto-Indo-European *snt-ie/o- (“to notice”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Robert Grosseteste (1220–1235), where it means perceiving through the senses.^[2] Alexander Neckam speaks of a sensitive faculty (vīs sēnsitīva) that belongs to the physicians' study rather than the theologian's.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In scholastic philosophy it named what belongs to the sensory part of the soul: Thomas Aquinas sets the pars sēnsitīva against the intellective and vegetative parts and uses it as a synonym of sēnsibilis.^[6] Medieval writers in Britain used it for “capable of sensation, sentient”, as in anima sēnsitīva, the sensitive soul.^[4] Wiktionary also gives “perceptible”.^[1]

English took it over as sensitive in the late 14th century, partly through Old French, and about 1400 in the scholastic sense.^[3]

Timeline

• 1220–1235 – Robert Grosseteste uses it of sense perception.^[2]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as sensitive, of the body and its parts.^[3]
• c. 1400 – The scholastic sense appears in English.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the senses or sensation, sensory: vīs sēnsitīva, the sensory faculty.^[4][6]
2. Capable of sensation, sentient: anima sēnsitīva, the sensitive soul.^[4][2]
3. Perceptible, detectable.^[1]

Related words

• sēnsibilis
• English sensitive

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh