English
sensillum
Sensillum comes from Latin sēnsus ‘perception, feeling’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sent-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-1‘to perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō1‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō1‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēnsus2‘perception, feeling’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900sensillum2diminutive of sēnsus
- Germanc. 1650–presentSensillum2
- Englishtodaysensillum2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin sensus
- 2 Wiktionary, English sensillum
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-Wiktionary, Latin sensus‘to perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiōWiktionary, Latin sensus‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiōWiktionary, Latin sensus‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēnsusWiktionary, English sensillum‘perception, feeling’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900sensillumWiktionary, English sensillumdiminutive of sēnsus
- Germanc. 1650–presentSensillumWiktionary, English sensillum
- EnglishtodaysensillumWiktionary, English sensillum
The story
Coined by German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in Systematische Phylogenie (1895).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to perceive’
through Latin sentiō ‘feel, hear, see, perceive’
sentence, sensitive, consent, sentiment, scent, consensus, sensor, resent, senseless, sentient, assent, sensibility, sentience, antisense, insensible, 29 more
through Latin sēnsus ‘perception, feeling’
Today it means
noun A sensory receptor in certain invertebrates, especially arthropods.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sensillum”; 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- / sensillum