sentience

C2+ Topic:Senses & Perception

US /ˈsɛnʃəns/ UK /ˈsɛnʃəns/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience sensations

Philosophers debate whether machines could attain sentience.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the capacity to feel,... consciousness awareness perception feeling sensibility

Opposites

insentienceunconsciousness

Word family

Related forms sentient sense sensation sentiment

Etymology

From Latin sentiens, sentientis, the present participle of sentire ('to feel, perceive'), with the abstract-noun suffix -ence.

sentire Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Senses & Perception Word Formation & Derivatives

# sentience

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈsɛnʃəns
**IPA (UK):** ˈsɛnʃəns

## Meanings
1. the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience sensations

## Examples
- Philosophers debate whether machines could attain sentience.

## Synonyms
- consciousness
- awareness
- perception
- feeling
- sensibility

## Antonyms
- insentience
- unconsciousness

## Related Forms
- sentient
- sense
- sensation
- sentiment

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sentire

## Etymology
From Latin sentiens, sentientis, the present participle of sentire ('to feel, perceive'), with the abstract-noun suffix -ence.

## AI Etymology
Sentience comes from Latin sentiens, sentientis, the present participle of sentire ('to feel, perceive'), with the abstract-noun suffix -ence. The suffix is part of the word's derivational shape, marking the final grammatical or semantic role while the base supplies the central meaning. As a noun, it denotes "the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience sensations", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Latin sentire. Related words include sentient, sense, sensation, sentiment.

## Topics
- Senses & Perception
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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sentience

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