Etymograph

English

sensation

Sensation comes from Latin sensus ‘perception, feeling, sensation’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sent-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-1‘to perceive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō1‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō1‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsensus2‘perception, feeling, sensation’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1822sensation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sensus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sensation
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, John Barclay, Ancient and Modern: “In the dead state all is apparently without motion.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-Wiktionary, Latin sensus‘to perceive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiōWiktionary, Latin sensus‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiōWiktionary, Latin sensus‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsensusWiktionary, English sensation‘perception, feeling, sensation’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1822sensationWiktionary, English sensation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, John Barclay, Ancient and Modern: “In the dead state all is apparently without motion.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to perceive’

send, sith, 30 more

through Proto-Italic *sentiō ‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’

insensible, 26 more

through Latin sentiō ‘feel, hear, see, perceive’

sentence, sensitive, consent, scent, sentiment, sensible, consensus, sensor, resent, senseless, sensibility, assent, sentient, sentience, antisense, 30 more

through Latin sensus ‘perception, feeling, sensation’

sense, sensual, sensuous, sensu, 19 more

Today it means

noun A physical feeling or perception from something that comes into contact with the body; something sensed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sensation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sensus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *sent- / sensation

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