Sensibility
/ˌsɛn.səˈbɪl.ə.ti/noun
The quality of being sensitive or easily affected by emotions, impressions, or stimuli.
Did you know?In older English, “sensibility” wasn’t just about emotions—it could mean a refined nervous responsiveness, the kind of inner sensitivity writers once treated like a moral and almost mystical faculty.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
sensus
“feeling, perception, sense”
Late Latin
Latin
sensibilis
“perceptible; capable of feeling”
Old French
Old French
sensibilité
“capacity for feeling or perception”
14th Century
English
sensibilite
“capacity for feeling or perception”
Modern English
English
sensibility
“quality of being sensitive or emotionally responsive”