sens French · revision 17332

+ {{homograph|1|sense, meaning}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la sentiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sens''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for sense and meaning is [[bor|la|sēnsus|t=perception; feeling; way of thinking; idea; meaning]], the action noun of [[m|la|sentiō|t=to perceive, feel]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|11, 463a) It absorbed Old French [[m|fro|sen]], a Germanic word, which survives in [[assener]] and [[forcené]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary treats the Old French word as partly from the Latin and partly from [[frk|*sinn]].^(Wiktionary) “Sens commun” (Rabelais, 1534) is a calque of [[m|la|sēnsus commūnis]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[it|senso]], [[es|seso]] and [[pt|siso]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==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”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rey describes three lines of development already present in the 12th century: reason, sensation and meaning.^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(TLFi) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Tomber sous le sens'' is in Bossuet (1661), ''reprendre ses sens'' in Racine (1667) and ''les plaisirs des sens'' in Pascal (1669).^(TLFi) Fontenelle (1686) spoke of a ''sixième sens'', and Rousseau (1762) used it for intuition.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Double sens'' is found in Corneille (1634), and Furetière (1690) distinguishes ''sens propre'' and ''sens figuré''.^(BHVF)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – “Reason”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1119 – A bodily sense; the meaning of a word, in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – ''Boin sens''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1534 – ''Sens commun'' in Rabelais.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1634 – ''Double sens'' in Corneille.^(BHVF)

+ * 1661 – ''Tomber sous le sens'' in Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Sens propre'', ''sens figuré'' in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sense]], a faculty of perception: ''les cinq sens'', ''les organes des sens''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(plural)'' The senses as a source of physical, especially sexual, pleasure: ''les plaisirs des sens''.^(Larousse)

+ # An intuitive feeling for something: ''le sens des nuances'', ''le sens pratique''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # Judgement, reason: ''le bon sens'', ''le sens commun''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The [[m|en|meaning]] of a word or sign: ''sens propre'', ''sens figuré'', ''double sens''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''À mon sens'': in my opinion, ''tomber sous le sens'': to be obvious.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Le sixième sens'': intuition.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sensé]]

+ * [[insensé]]

+ * [[contresens]]

+ * [[non-sens]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|direction}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=early 12th century (sen)|origins=gmw-pro *sinn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sens''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for direction is Old French [[m|fro|sen|t=way, direction]], [[bor|frk|*sinn|t=direction]], influenced by the word for sense.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) 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 [[de|Sinn]], probably owed its own intellectual sense to Latin “sēnsus”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary traces it to [[gmw-pro|*sinn]].^(Wiktionary) Littré already derived the Old French “sen” from Germanic.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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”).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “direction of a movement” is in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1160).^(GLLF 1989) ''Sens dessus dessous'' (16th century) is a respelling of ''cen dessus dessous'', in which ''cen'' was ''ce'' + ''en'' (“what was above, below”).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) Road traffic brought ''sens interdit'' (early 20th century) and ''sens unique'' (recorded in 1933).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 12th century – ''Sen'' “direction”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * c. 1160 – The direction of a movement, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1607 – ''Sens dessus dessous'' in Maupas.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1933 – ''Sens unique'' in Larousse.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|direction]]: ''dans le sens de la flèche'', ''en sens inverse'', ''dans tous les sens''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A way, side along which something lies: ''dans le sens de la longueur'', ''le sens du bois''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Sens unique'', ''sens interdit'': one-way street; no entry.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Sens dessus dessous'': upside down; in total disorder.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ # ''Caresser dans le sens du poil'': to stroke the right way, ''(figurative)'' to flatter.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sensation]]

+ * [[sensualité]]

+ * [[sentir]]

+ * [[la|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.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}