Etymograph

English

sentiment

Sentiment comes from Latin sentimentum ‘feeling, opinion, sentiment’, from sentiō ‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’, and ultimately from 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‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentimentum1‘feeling, opinion, sentiment’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sentement1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1837sentiment1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sentiment
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Publishing: “"Now, my dear young friend," continued the bookseller, "you…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-Wiktionary, English sentiment‘to perceive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiōWiktionary, English sentiment‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiōWiktionary, English sentiment‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentimentumWiktionary, English sentiment‘feeling, opinion, sentiment’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sentementWiktionary, English sentiment
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1837sentimentWiktionary, English sentiment. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Publishing: “"Now, my dear young friend," continued the bookseller, "you…”

Linked words

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

send, sith, 31 more

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

senseless, insensible, antisense, 27 more

through Latin sentiō ‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’

sense, sentence, sensitive, consent, consensus, sensible, sensor, sensation, scent, sensual, sensibility, resent, sensuous, assent, sensu, sentience, 33 more

Today it means

noun A general thought, feeling, or sense.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sentiment”. 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- / sentiment

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