English
insense
Insense comes from Old French ensenser ‘to enlighten, to bring to sense’, from Latin sentiō ‘feel, perceive’, and ultimately from Frankish *sinn ‘sense, mental faculty, way, direction’.
- Frankishc. 250–700*sinn1‘sense, mental faculty, way, direction’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō1‘feel, perceive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsensus1‘sense, sensation, feeling, meaning’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sens2‘sense’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ensenser2‘to enlighten, to bring to sense’
- Englishearliest quotation 1825insense2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Old French sens
- 2 Wiktionary, English insense
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1825, Elijah Fenton: “eagle eyes upon the insensed yet fearful monarch”.
Lineage
- Frankishc. 250–700*sinnWiktionary, Old French sens‘sense, mental faculty, way, direction’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiōWiktionary, Old French sens‘feel, perceive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsensusWiktionary, Old French sens‘sense, sensation, feeling, meaning’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sensWiktionary, English insense‘sense’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ensenserWiktionary, English insense‘to enlighten, to bring to sense’
- Englishearliest quotation 1825insenseWiktionary, English insense. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1825, Elijah Fenton: “eagle eyes upon the insensed yet fearful monarch”
Linked words
through Latin sentiō ‘feel, perceive’
sentence, sensitive, consent, sentiment, scent, consensus, sensible, sensor, resent, sensibility, sentient, assent, sentience, 30 more
through Latin sensus ‘sense, sensation, feeling, meaning’
sensation, sensual, sensuous, sensu, 17 more
through Old French sens ‘sense’
Today it means
verb To make to understand; to instruct.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “insense”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French sens. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Frankish *sinn / insense