sentence

Less common meanings

4. 4
   verdictnoundatedcountable

   The decision or judgment delivered by a jury or court; a verdict.

   A branch that has played a significant part in the history of its territory is under sentence at the end of the summer timetables, so far as its passenger services are concerned.

   1959, Colin G. Maggs, “The Bristol-Frome branch of the W.R.”

   The court returned a sentence of guilt in the first charge, but innocence in the second.

   Similarverdict, judgment, decision, ruling, finding

   Note

   An older courtroom use in which the word names the finding itself, guilty or not guilty, rather than the punishment that follows. Today that finding is a verdict, and the word has narrowed to the order of punishment. A modern reader meeting "a sentence of guilt" should read it as a verdict. Behind both lies Latin sententia, "way of thinking, opinion," from sentire, "to feel, think": a court's sentence was first its considered view. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Sentence formerly meant a judicial finding or verdict, supporting the interpretation of 'a sentence of guilt' as a guilty verdict. en.wiktionary.org
   • The English word ultimately derives from Latin sententia, meaning 'way of thinking, opinion'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin sentire means 'to feel, think'. en.wiktionary.org
   • The legal word's historical background includes an expressed legal opinion. en.wikipedia.org
5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To decree, announce, or hand down something as a sentence.

   So as far as the older generation of German Lutherans were concerned, the abolition of the mother language sentenced death upon the church as they knew it.

   1977, Eugene B. Meier, How was the Acculturation of Children of Alt Lutheraner Descent in Wisconsin 1843 - 1915 Affected by the…

   Similardecree, pronounce, ordain

   Note

   Here the grammar is reversed. The punishment is the object and whoever suffers it follows upon: in Ella Taylor Disosway's South Meadows: A Tale of Long Ago, the law commands its officers to "sentence death upon the abettors." The pattern survives in figurative prose too, as when Eugene B. Meier writes that abolishing the mother language "sentenced death upon the church."

6. 6
   stated opinionnounarchaic

   An opinion or judgment declared on a particular question.

   By them [Martin Luther's works] we might pass sentence upon his doctrines.

   1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation

   Note

   An opinion becomes a sentence in this sense once it is delivered as a ruling on a question, even when no court is involved. It went with the verbs give and pass: Topsell (1596) hesitates to "giue any sentence" on who wrote the book of Ruth, and Atterbury (1687) would "pass sentence upon" Luther's doctrines. That second phrase still sounds judicial, which is why it carries such weight when applied to ideas. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • This sense denotes a declared opinion or judgment and does not require a court. en.wiktionary.org
   • Topsell's relevant work was published in 1596. famineanddearth.exeter.ac.uk
   • Edward Topsell cautiously uses the quoted expression when discussing who wrote Ruth. en.wiktionary.org
   • Atterbury's relevant work was first published in 1687. en.wikipedia.org
   • Atterbury uses pass sentence upon in discussing Luther's doctrines. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   nounobsolete

   A short, pithy statement of wisdom, especially one credited to an eminent person.

   I am told that she writes well, and that all her letters are full of sentences.

   1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa

   Men (saith an ancient Greek sentence) are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not by things themselves.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes

   Note

   This is a lost literary meaning, and it can trap a modern reader. When Richardson's Clarissa (1748) calls letters "full of sentences," it means full of maxims, not simply full of writing. Florio's Montaigne (1603) uses it the same way, introducing a quoted saying as "an ancient Greek sentence." The idea of a pithy, authoritative line lives on in the adjective sententious. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Clarissa contains full of sentences describing letters as containing maxims. gutenberg.org
   • John Florio's English translation of Montaigne was first published in 1603. clarklibrary.ucla.edu
   • Florio's translation introduces a saying as an ancient Greek sentence. monadnock.net
8. 8
   nounobsolete

   A person's own opinion or manner of thinking.

   My sentence is for open war.

   1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

   Note

   Of all the senses, this one stays closest to the Latin opinion behind the old "verdict" meaning: a person's sentence was simply where they stood. It could take the form "my sentence is for…", which amounts to casting a vote. Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) gives the classic line: "My sentence is for open war." The opinion here is a personal stance, even when voiced in debate; it is not a ruling on a question. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

   • The opinion sense reflects Latin sententia, from which English sentence derives. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin sententia connects the meanings of opinion and authoritative judgment. en.wiktionary.org
   • Sentence historically meant a person's opinion or manner of thinking. en.wiktionary.org
   • In the quoted construction, sentence expresses support for a proposed course of action. en.wikisource.org
   • John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. en.wikipedia.org
   • Paradise Lost contains the exact words “My sentence is for open war.” en.wikisource.org
   • Moloch publicly states his opinion during the council debate. It is a personal recommendation rather than a judicial verdict. en.wikisource.org
9. 9
   nounobsolete

   The sense, meaning, or significance of a thing.

   now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent.

   1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs]

   Note

   Meaning-as-substance survives mostly in one phrase: full of sentence, "weighty with meaning." Chaucer's Clerk speaks "ful of hy sentence" in The Canterbury Tales, and Milton in Eikonoklastes (1649) dismisses a discourse as "full of sentence" but specious. T. S. Eliot's "Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse" in Prufrock (1915) knowingly echoes Chaucer. Meeting it today, read it as a literary allusion, not a live usage. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

   • Full of sentence can mean weighty with meaning. en.wiktionary.org
   • Chaucer describes the Clerk's speech in The Canterbury Tales as “ful of hy sentence.” chaucer.fas.harvard.edu
   • John Milton's Eikonoklastes was first published in 1649. en.wikipedia.org
   • In Eikonoklastes, Milton calls a discourse “full of sentence” while criticizing its substance as largely specious or irrelevant. en.wiktionary.org
   • T. S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was first published in 1915. en.wikipedia.org
   • Prufrock contains the quoted wording “Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse.” en.wiktionary.org
   • Eliot's phrase alludes to Chaucer's description of the Clerk. en.wikipedia.org
10. 10
    verbobsolete

    To speak sententiously, in the manner of pronouncing a maxim.

    Let me heare one wise man sentence it, rather then twenty Fooles, garrulous in their lengthened tattle.

    1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine

    Note

    The verb of the "maxim" noun: to sentence a thing was to put it into a grave, quotable saying. Owen Feltham's Resolves (1623) sets one wise man who will "sentence it" against twenty fools "garrulous in their lengthened tattle," so the contrast is between weighty brevity and chatter. The verb is gone, but its spirit lives on in the adjective sententious. Source

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The verb had a sense corresponding to the maxim noun: to speak sententiously. en.wiktionary.org
    • Owen Feltham wrote Resolves, first published in 1623. celm.folger.edu
    • Feltham contrasts one wise man's sententious speech with twenty fools' lengthy chatter, using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
    • Sententious retains the association with concise expression and maxims. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    noun

    Any of the strings of symbols that a given formal grammar can generate.
12. 12
    noun

    A logical formula that contains no free variables.