Etymograph

English

sensible

Sensible comes from Latin sēnsibilis ‘perceptible by the senses, having feeling,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to feel’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-1‘to feel’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō1‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō2‘to feel, perceive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēnsibilis2‘perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598sensible2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sentio, which cites LIV
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sensible
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “with affection wondrous sensible”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-Wiktionary, Latin sentio, which cites LIV‘to feel’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiōWiktionary, Latin sentio, which cites LIV‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiōWiktionary, English sensible‘to feel, perceive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēnsibilisWiktionary, English sensible‘perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598sensibleWiktionary, English sensible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “with affection wondrous sensible”

Linked words

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

send, sith, 33 more

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

senseless, antisense, 29 more

through Latin sentiō ‘to feel, perceive’

sense, sentence, consent, sentiment, scent, consensus, sensation, sensor, resent, sensual, sentient, assent, sensuous, sentience, sensu, 34 more

Today it means

adj Acting with or showing good sense; able to make good judgements based on reason or wisdom, or reflecting such ability.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sensible”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sentio. 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- / sensible

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