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Webster 1913 Edition


Sensation

Sen-sa′tion

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
sensation
. See
Sensate
.]
1.
(Physiol.)
An impression, or the consciousness of an impression, made upon the central nervous organ, through the medium of a sensory or afferent nerve or one of the organs of sense; a feeling, or state of consciousness, whether agreeable or disagreeable, produced either by an external object (stimulus), or by some change in the internal state of the body.
Perception is only a special kind of knowledge, and
sensation
a special kind of feeling. . . . Knowledge and feeling, perception and
sensation
, though always coexistent, are always in the inverse ratio of each other.
Sir W. Hamilton.
2.
A purely spiritual or psychical affection; agreeable or disagreeable feelings occasioned by objects that are not corporeal or material.
3.
A state of excited interest or feeling, or that which causes it.
The
sensation
caused by the appearance of that work is still remembered by many.
Brougham.
Syn. – Perception.
Sensation
,
Perseption
. The distinction between these words, when used in mental philosophy, may be thus stated; if I simply smell a rose, I have a sensation; if I refer that smell to the external object which occasioned it, I have a perception. Thus, the former is mere feeling, without the idea of an object; the latter is the mind’s apprehension of some external object as occasioning that feeling. “Sensation properly expresses that change in the state of the mind which is produced by an impression upon an organ of sense (of which change we can conceive the mind to be conscious, without any knowledge of external objects). Perception, on the other hand, expresses the knowledge or the intimations we obtain by means of our sensations concerning the qualities of matter, and consequently involves, in every instance, the notion of externality, or outness, which it is necessary to exclude in order to seize the precise import of the word sensation.”
Fleming.

Webster 1828 Edition


Sensation

SENSA'TION

,
Noun.
[from L. sensus, sentio, to perceive. See Sense.] The perception of external objects by means of the senses.

Definition 2024


Sensation

Sensation

See also: sensation

German

Noun

Sensation f (genitive Sensation, plural Sensationen)

  1. sensation (widespread reaction of interest or excitement)

Derived terms

sensation

sensation

See also: Sensation

English

Noun

sensation (plural sensations)

  1. A physical feeling or perception from something that comes into contact with the body; something sensed.
    • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
      Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.}}
    • 1921, Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind:
      Confining ourselves, for the moment, to sensations, we find that there are different degrees of publicity attaching to different sorts of sensations. If you feel a toothache when the other people in the room do not, you are in no way surprised; but if you hear a clap of thunder when they do not, you begin to be alarmed as to your mental condition.
  2. A widespread reaction of interest or excitement.
    • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Tremarn Case:
      “Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […]”
    • 1937, H. P. Lovecraft, The Thing on the Doorstep:
      Young Derby's odd genius developed remarkably, and in his eighteenth year his collected nightmare-lyrics made a real sensation when issued under the title Azathoth and Other Horrors.

Hyponyms

  • Wikisaurus:sensation

Related terms

Translations

External links

  • sensation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • sensation in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • sensation at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin sensationem, accusative of sensatio, from Latin sensus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɑ̃sasjɔ̃/

Noun

sensation f (plural sensations)

  1. sensation