# sense

Pronunciation: US say "SENS" /sɛns/; UK

## Noun

1. Awareness or perception grasped through the mind rather than the body.
   - Simple: A feeling or awareness in your mind, such as a feeling of calm or a feeling that something is true.
   - _She had a nagging sense that something was wrong with the plan._
   - _A growing sense of unease spread through the waiting crowd._
2. What something means, what purpose it serves, or what makes it worthwhile.
   - Simple: The meaning, point, or purpose of something.
   - _Explain the sense behind the new rule so people will follow it._
   - _She questioned the sense of spending so much on one meal._
3. Any of the ways a living being perceives the physical world; in humans, sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.
   - Simple: One of the body's ways of knowing the world, like sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
   - _The sense of taste lets us tell sweet foods from sour ones._
   - _Each of the five senses sends its own signals to the brain._
4. Sound practical or moral judgment; the ability to make wise and reasonable decisions.
   - Simple: The ability to think clearly and make good, practical choices.
   - _Anyone with sense would have brought an umbrella in such weather._
   - _Her practical sense kept the whole project from falling apart._
5. One of the distinct meanings that a word or expression can have, especially as listed separately in a dictionary.
   - Simple: One of the different meanings a word or phrase can have, like each numbered meaning in a dictionary.
   - _Read carefully to see which sense of the term the author intends._
   - _Many common words carry several distinct senses._
6. A natural appreciation of or ability for something, such as a feel for rhythm or color.
   - Simple: A natural feel or talent for something.
   - _The dancer has an extraordinary sense of rhythm._
   - _His dry sense of humor brightens any meeting._
10. The particular way in which something referred to is presented or described.
   - Simple: The way something is presented or described, not just the thing it points to.
   - _'The morning star' and 'the evening star' share a referent but differ in sense._
   - _Two expressions can pick out the same object while presenting it through a different sense._

## Verb

7. To become aware of something by instinct rather than by reasoning.
   - Simple: To feel that something is true without being told.
   - _Good leaders sense tension in a room before it boils over._
   - _She immediately sensed that she was unwelcome at the table._
8. To perceive something through sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch.
   - Simple: To see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something.
   - _Many fish sense vibrations in the water around them._
   - _The moth's antennae sensed a faint scent on the breeze._
9. To grasp or understand the meaning of something.
   - Simple: To understand what something means.
   - _Readers slowly sense the deeper meaning of the poem._
   - _He sensed the full weight of her argument only at the end._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In mathematics and physics, either of two opposite directions, whether along a line (as of a vector) or of rotation (clockwise or counterclockwise).
- (noun) The strand of a nucleic acid whose base sequence directly corresponds to the product, rather than its complementary template strand.

## Origin

From Middle English sense, from Old French sens ("sense, perception, direction"), coming partly from Latin sēnsus ("sensation, feeling, meaning"), from sentiō ("to feel, perceive"), and partly from Germanic roots (via Vulgar Latin *sennus and Frankish *sinn "reason, judgement, direction"; compare Dutch zin and German Sinn). Both the Latin and Germanic lines go back to Proto-Indo-European *sent- ("to feel").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sense (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).