# sensation
## English
### Etymology

From Old French, from Medieval Latin sensatio, from Latin sensus.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: sĕn-sā'shən, IPA: /sɛnˈseɪʃən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪʃən

### Noun

sensation (countable and uncountable, plural sensations)
* A physical feeling or perception from something that comes into contact with the body; something sensed.
** 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC: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.
** 2008, Tamar Love, “Turning On in the Tub”, in The Sensual Bath: Soaking in Pleasure and Passion‎ (Sex/Relationships), Sterling/Ravenous, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 86, column 1:Water and electricity might not mix, but water and battery-powered fun sure do. Whether you are using a vibe alone or with a partner, in the tub or in the shower, the sensation of intense vibration feels especially nice underwater. Although waterproof vibrators can resemble anything from a lipstick to a kitty cat, most have one of four basic designs.
* (psychology, physiology) Excitation of sensory organs.
    Coordinate term: perception
** 1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization‎, Edinburgh, London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 2:In the dead state all is apparently without motion. No agent within indicates design, intelligence, or foresight: there is no respiration; […] no sensation; […]
* A widespread reaction of interest or excitement.
** 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:“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.
* (figurative, uncommon, dated) A remarkable person.
    Synonym: event
    You truly are a sensation.
* (slang, archaic) A small serving of gin or sherry.
** 1852, George Butler Earp, Gold Seeker's Manual, page 52:A Sensation . . . . Half-a-glass of sherry.
** 1869, Meliora, volume 12, page 47:When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'

#### Hyponyms

* Thesaurus:sensation

#### Derived terms

* aerosensation
* aftersensation
* chemosensation
* hygrosensation
* hypersensation
* magnetosensation
* mechanosensation
* orosensation
* osmosensation
* photosensation
* presensation
* sensationism
* sensationist
* sensationless
* sensation-monger
* sensation play
* sensation time
* somatosensation
* subsensation
* thermosensation

#### Related terms

* sensational
* sensation fiction
* sensation novel
* sense
* sensible
* sensitive
* sensory
* sensual

#### References

* (small serving of gin): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

#### Further reading

* “sensation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sensation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “sensation”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* Estonians, insonates

## French
### Etymology

From Latin sensationem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɑ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

sensation f (plural sensations)
* sensation

#### Derived terms

* faire sensation
* sensation forte

### Further reading

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

## Swedish
### Noun

sensation c
* a sensation ((something causing) widespread excitement)
* (psychology) a sensation (perception)
    Synonym: sinnesintryck

#### Derived terms

* sensationsjournalistik

### References

* sensation in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* sensation in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* sensation in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)