sensibility

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˌsɛn(t)sɪˈbɪlɪti/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /ˌsɛn(t)səˈbɪləti/
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• General-American: [-ɾi]
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• rhymes with -ɪlɪti
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• CMU ARPABET: S EH2 N S IH0 B IH1 L IH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Late Middle English sensibilite (“physical ability to sense or perceive; sensitivity to pain; type of perception by a sense organ; perception, understanding; image imprinted on the mind during perception; (philosophy) capacity of the soul to receive information from the senses, perceptibility; (in the plural) the senses”), from Middle French sensibilité and Old French sensibilité (“characteristic or state of being capable of sensation”) (modern French sensibilité), and from their etymon Late Latin sēnsibilitās (“intelligence; perception, sensation; sensitiveness; meaning or sense of words”), from Latin sēnsibilis (“detectable; perceptible, sensible”) (from sentiō (“to perceive with the senses, feel, sense; to be aware or sensible of; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to perceive; to think”)) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives denoting a capacity or worth of being acted upon)) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting states of being). By surface analysis, sensible + -ity (suffix forming nouns). Sense 6 (“in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant: emotion or feeling as opposed to the will”) is a use of the word as a calque of German Sinnlichkeit (“receptivity and devotion to what is experienced by the senses; desire for or openness to eroticism, sensuality”).

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Finnish: tunteet — emotions or feelings arising from or relating to aesthetic or moral standards, especially those which are sensitive and thus likely to be hurt or offended
• Catalan: sensibilitat — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Chinese Mandarin: 感性 (gǎnxìng) — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Finnish: aistimiskyky — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Finnish: herkkyys — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• German: Sensibilität — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• German: Empfindlichkeit — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• German: Empfindungsvermögen — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Greek: ευαισθησία (evaisthisía) — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Portuguese: sensibilidade — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Romanian: sensibilitate — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Spanish: sensibilidad — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Swedish: känslighet — ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli — see also sensitivity
• Finnish: aistivuus — degree to which someone or something (especially a sensory organ or tissue) is able to respond to sensory stimuli
• Finnish: herkkyys — quality of being easily affected by external forces or stimuli; of a measuring instrument: the quality of being able to detect small changes in the environment
• Russian: чу́ткость (čútkostʹ) — quality of being easily affected by external forces or stimuli; of a measuring instrument: the quality of being able to detect small changes in the environment
• Esperanto: sentemo — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• Finnish: tunneäly — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• Finnish: tunnekyky — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• German: Sensibilität — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• German: Empfindsamkeit — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• Greek: ευαισθησία (evaisthisía) — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• Romanian: sensibilitate — keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness
• Finnish: aistimellisuus — ability to perceive or sense as opposed to the ability to understand