# sens
## English
### Noun

sens
* plural of sen

### Anagrams

* NSSE, ENSs, -ness, ness, Ness, SNES, SE SN, ESNs

## Afrikaans
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “from German?”)

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

sens (plural sense)
* scythe
    Synonym: seis

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Valencia) [ˈsens]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈsəns]

### Preposition

sens
* Archaic form of sense (“without”).

#### Usage notes

* This preposition has been superseded in all dialects by the form sense. Sens is nowadays only used in poetry (for metrical reasons or for a deliberately archaizing effect), and in common set phrases: sens dubte (“without a doubt”) and sens falta (“without fail”).

#### Derived terms

* sens dubte
* sens falta

### Further reading

* “sens” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “sens”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “sens” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “sens” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## French
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French, from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, reason, direction”), partly borrowed from Latin sēnsus (“sense, sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly from Frankish *sinn (“sense, reason, mental faculty, way, direction”) (via Vulgar Latin *sennus), from Proto-West Germanic *sinn (“mind, meaning”), particularly in the sense of "direction". Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”). Compare also French assener (“to thrust out”), forcené (“maniac”). More at send.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɑ̃s/
* Audio; “le sens”:(file)
** The preservation of final /s/ in this term is irregular, distinguishable from once homophonous sans. Formerly a pronunciation without this /s/ was possible, and is still found in the expressions sens dessus dessous and sens devant derrière.

#### Noun

sens m (plural sens)
* meaning, sense
    Synonym: signification
    le sens ultime de la vie ― the ultimate meaning of life
    Les mots ont un sens. ― Words have meanings.
* sense, sensation
    Synonyms: perception, sensation
* sense, intelligence
    bon sens ― common sense
    Je préfère fréquenter ceux qui manquent de bon sens.I prefer to associate with people who lack common sense.
* direction of circulation
    voie à sens unique ― one-way street, one-way road
    en tous sens, dans tous les sens ― in all directions

##### Derived terms

* sens anti-horaire
* sens commun
* sens de l’humour
* sens des aiguilles d’une montre
* sens des réalités
* sens dessus dessous
* sens devant derrière
* sens horaire
* sens trigonométrique
* à contresens
* à mon sens
* à sens unique
* abonder dans le sens
* avoir du sens
* bon sens
* caresser dans le sens du poil
* dans un sens
* double sens
* faire sens
* lourd de sens
* partir dans tous les sens
* sixième sens
* tomber sous le sens
* unité de sens

##### Related terms

* sensation
* sensualité

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɑ̃/

#### Verb

sens
* inflection of sentir:
** first/second-person singular indicative present
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “sens”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Latgalian
### Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *senas. Cognates include Latvian sens and Lithuanian senas.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈsʲɛnt͡s]
* Hyphenation: sens

### Adjective

sens
* ancient

#### Derived terms

* senotne

### References

* M. Bukšs, J. Placinskis (1973) Latgaļu volūdas gramatika un pareizraksteibas vōrdneica, Latgaļu izdevnīceiba, page 397

## Latvian
### Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *senas, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”). In Latvian, apparently only the adverbial form sen was conserved without interruption; in the first Latvian dictionaries, only vecs is consistently given as an adjective, whereas the occurrences of sens are few and dubious. Apparently the Latvian adjectival form of sen fell out of usage after Proto-Balto-Slavic times, and was recoined and successfully reintroduced only in the 19th century. Cognates include Lithuanian sẽnas (“old, ancient”), Sudovian sens (“old”), Old Irish sen, Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (sineigs) (< *sen-ei-), Sanskrit सन (sana, “old”), Ancient Greek ἕνος (hénos, “old, last year's”), Latin senex (“old in age, senior”).

### Adjective

sens (definite senais, comparative senāks, superlative vissenākais, adverb sen)
* ancient, old, of long ago (many years, centuries, ages ago; the people of such times, their institutions, culture, etc.)
    seni laiki, tāla pagatne ― ancient times, distant past
    senā Grieķija ― ancient Greece
    senā Roma ― ancient Rome
    sens rokraksts ― ancient manuscript
    sena tradīcija ― ancient tradition
    sena valoda ― ancient language
    sens darbarīks ― ancient tool
    seni augi, dzīvnieki ― ancient plants, animals
    senie latvieši ― the ancient Latvians
    senie eģiptieši ― the ancient Egyptians
    sena cilts ― ancient tribe
* old (from relatively long ago; separated from the present by a (subjectively) significant amount of time)
    sena skolasbiedru draudzība ― an old schoolmate friendship
    sens paziņa ― an old acquaintance
    piedzīvojumu žanrs kinomākslā ir sens un pārbaudīts ― the adventure genre in film is old and tried

#### Derived terms

* senatne

#### Related terms

* sencis

### References

* ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “sens”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca‎ (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN

## Middle French
### Alternative forms

* senz, cens

### Etymology

From Old French sens.

### Noun

sens m (plural sens)
* sense (method for a living being to gather data about the world)
* sense (ability to reason)

#### Descendants

* French: sens

## Occitan
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Preposition

sens
* (Gascony, Languedoc, Limousin) Alternative form of sense

### Noun

sens m (plural sens)
* (Gascony, Languedoc) sense

### References

* ↑ Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 556.
* ↑ Patric Guilhemjoan, Diccionari elementari occitan-francés francés-occitan (gascon), 2005, Orthez, per noste, 2005, →ISBN, page 123.
* ↑ Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 556.
* Patric Guilhemjoan, Diccionari elementari occitan-francés francés-occitan (gascon), 2005, Orthez, per noste, 2005, →ISBN,page 124.

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* sen, san

### Etymology

Partly borrowed from Latin sensus (“sense, sensation, feeling, meaning”), from sentiō (“feel, perceive”); partly (via Vulgar Latin *sennus) from Frankish *sinn (“sense, mental faculty, way, direction”). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”). More at sens.

### Noun

sens oblique singular, m (oblique plural sens, nominative singular sens, nominative plural sens)
* reason; ability to reason or think

#### Synonyms

* raison

#### Descendants

* Middle French: sens, senz, cens
** French: sens
* Picard: sins
* → Middle English: sense, sence, sens
** English: sense, sence
*** → Afrikaans: sense

## Old Irish
### Noun

sens m
* Alternative spelling of séns: alternative form of síans

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Old Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sensus. First attested in 1461–1467.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (10th–15th CE) /sɛns/
* IPA: (15th CE) /sɛns/

### Noun

sens m inan
* reason (ability to reason)
** 1461-1467, Sermones. Rękopiśmienne ekscerpty pochodzące z rkpsu Archiwum i Biblioteki Krakowskiej Kapituły Katedralnej o sygn. 230 (dawna sygn. 1421/108 Mns) z roku 1461-1467, page 349r:In verbo proposito proponitur fides nostra quoad articulum resurectionis probata per sensum, doswyathczona przesz sens, rata per consensum[In verbo proposito proponitur fides nostra quoad articulum resurectionis probata per sensum, doświadczona przez sens, rata per consensum]

#### Descendants

* Polish: sens
* Silesian: sens, syns

### References

* ↑ Stanisław Dubisz, editor (2003), “sens”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal dictionary of the Polish language]‎ (in Polish), volumes 1-4, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, →ISBN
* ↑ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “sens”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
   * B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “sens”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

## Polish
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish sens.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɛns/
* (Middle Polish) IPA: /ˈsɛns/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛns
* Syllabification: sens

### Noun

sens m inan
* sense (meaning, reason, or value of something)
** 2019, “Po prostu ze mną bądź”, in Zakochaj się we mnie, performed by Poparzeni Kawą Trzy, track 4:Gdy wszystko traci sens, Świat działa jak na złość, Wiatr wieje, pada deszcz, I życia ma się dość. Gdy jest widoków brak i chce się tylko klnąć. Na skróty przejdź przez park, po prostu ze mną bądź.When everything loses meaning, The world acts as if out of spite, The wind blows, the rain falls, And life is too much. When there are no prospects and all you want to do is curse. Take a shortcut through the park, just be with me.
* point (purpose or objective, which makes something meaningful)
    Near-synonym: znaczenie
* (obsolete) thought; aphorism

#### Derived terms

* bez sensu
* bezsensowny
* bez sensu
* bezsensownie
* w pewnym sensie
* w sensie
* bezsens
* bezsensowność

### Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), sens is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 18 times in scientific texts, 1 time in news, 26 times in essays, 18 times in fiction, and 32 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 95 times, making it the 667th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

### References

* ↑ Ida Kurcz (1990) “sens”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 2, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 523

### Further reading

* sens in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* sens in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “sens”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
* “SENS”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 24.10.2008
* Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “sens”, in Słownik języka polskiego
* Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “sens”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
* J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1915), “sens”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 6, Warsaw, page 65

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French sens, Latin sensus.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

sens n (plural sensuri)
* sense, meaning
* reason, logic
* direction

## Sudovian
### Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *senas, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos. Compare Lithuanian sẽnas (“old”), Latvian sȩns (“ancient”); however, Latvian vȩcs (“old”), Old Prussian urs (“old”).

### Adjective

ſenſ
* old
    Antonyms: iauniſ (“young”), nau (“new”)
** “Pagan dialects from Narew” line 171, (copied by V. Zinov, 1983):stary — ſenſstary — old

### References

* ↑ Zigmas Zinkevičius (1985) “Lenkų-jotvingių žodynėlis? [A Polish-Yotvingian dictionary?]”, in Baltistica, volume 21, number 1 (in Lithuanian), Vilnius: VU, →DOI, page 78: “ſenſ ‘senas, l. stary’ 171.”
* ↑ “sẽnas” in Hock et al., Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch 2.0 (online, 2020–): “nar. ſenſ adj. ‘alt’”.