sense means any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste. It carries an Arena rating of 1527, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sense ranks #23 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #678 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,282 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #8,474 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
sense is pronounced /sɛns/.
Why “sense” is a great word
The physical faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus, from Middle English *sense*, from Old French *sens*, from Latin *sensus* (“perception, feeling, meaning”), from *sentīre* (“to feel, perceive”), from Proto-Indo-European *sent-* (“to go, head for, perceive”). Unlike “meaning,” which is an abstract signification, or “logic,” a formal system of reason, sense is the raw, unmediated commerce between the self and the world. It is the specific weight of a ripe peach in the palm, the particular frequency of a distant train whistle at dusk, or the way skin knows cold before the mind has named it—our oldest, most democratic form of knowledge, requiring no translation and brooking no argument.
Etymology
From Middle English sense, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, perception, direction”); partly from Latin sēnsus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus (“sense, reason, way”), from Frankish *sinn ("reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction"; whence also Dutch zin, German Sinn, Swedish sinne, Norwegian sinn). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).
noun
- Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.e.g.“Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.” — c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[wa
- Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.e.g.“a sense of security”
- Sound practical or moral judgment.e.g.“It’s common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.”
- The meaning, reason, or value of something.e.g.“You don’t make any sense.”
- The meaning, reason, or value of something.; A meaning of a term (word or expression), among its various meanings.e.g.“the various senses of the word “car” (e.g., motor car, elevator car, railcar)”
- The meaning, reason, or value of something.; A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries or definitions for a word in a dictionary.
- A natural appreciation or ability.e.g.“A keen musical sense”
- The way that a referent is presented.
- One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
- One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
- referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.
verb
- To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
- To instinctively be aware.e.g.“She immediately sensed her disdain.”
- To comprehend.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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