different between sense vs pith

English

Alternative forms

• sence (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English sense, borrowed from Old French sens, sen, san (“sense, reason, direction”); partly from Latin sensus (“sensation, feeling, meaning”), from senti? (“feel, perceive”); partly of Germanic origin (whence also Occitan sen, Italian senno), from Vulgar Latin *sennus (“sense, reason, way”), from Frankish *sinn (“reason, judgement, mental faculty, way, direction”). Both Latin and Germanic from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /s?n(t)s/
• (General American) enPR: s?ns, IPA^(key): /s?ns/
• (pen-pin merger) IPA^(key): /s?n(t)s/
• Rhymes: -?ns
• Homophones: cents, scents, since (some dialects)

Noun

sense (countable and uncountable, plural senses)

2. Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
4. Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.

   a sense of security

   • this Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover
6. Sound practical or moral judgment.

   It's common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.
8. The meaning, reason, or value of something.

   You don’t make any sense.

   the true sense of words or phrases

   • So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense.
10. A natural appreciation or ability.

    A keen musical sense

12. (pragmatics) The way that a referent is presented.
14. (semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.

    The word set has various senses.

16. (mathematics) One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
18. (mathematics) One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
20. (biochemistry) referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.

Synonyms

• nonnonsense

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• common-sense
• good sense
• nonsense

Related terms

Descendants

• ? Afrikaans: sense

Translations

See also

Verb

sense (third-person singular simple present senses, present participle sensing, simple past and past participle sensed)

1. To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
2. To instinctively be aware.

   She immediately sensed her disdain.

3. To comprehend.

Translations

Anagrams

• Essen, NESes, SE SNe, enses, esnes, seens, senes, snees

Afrikaans

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English sense.

Noun

sense (uncountable)

1. sense, good sense

Etymology 2

Noun

sense

1. plural of sens

Catalan

Alternative forms

• sens

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin sine, possibly conflated with absentia, or more likely from sens, itself from Old Catalan sen (with an adverbial -s-), from Latin sine. Compare French sans, Occitan sens, Italian senza.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?s?n.s?/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?s?n.s?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?sen.se/

Preposition

sense

1. without

   Antonym: amb

Derived terms

• sensesostre

Further reading

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

Chuukese

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese ?? (sensei).

Noun

sense

1. teacher

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?sen.se/, [?s???s??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?sen.se/, [?s?ns?]

Participle

s?nse

1. vocative masculine singular of s?nsus

Occitan

Alternative forms

• sens
• shens (Gascony)

Etymology

From a variant of Latin sine (“without”), influenced by abs?ns (“absent, remote”).

Preposition

sense

1. without

References

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2016, page 556.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English pith, pithe, from Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô (compare West Frisian piid (“pulp, kernel”), Dutch peen (“carrot”), Low German Peddik (“pulp, core”)), from earlier *piþ? (oblique *pittan). Doublet of pit. The verb meaning "to kill by cutting or piercing the spinal cord" is attested 1805.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??/
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

pith (usually uncountable, plural piths)

1. (botany) The soft, spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees.
2. The spongy interior substance of a feather or horn.
3. (anatomy) The spinal cord; the marrow.
4. (botany) The albedo of a citrus fruit.
5. (figuratively) The essential or vital part; force; energy; importance.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 144]:

     The clothesline surrendered the pith of its soul, and Kathleen's stockings, hung at the wide end, now suggested lust.

6. (figuratively) Power, strength, might.

Synonyms

• (essential or necessary part): core, essence, general tenor, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance; See also Thesaurus:gist

Related terms

• pith helmet
• pithy
• pith and substance

Translations

Verb

pith (third-person singular simple present piths, present participle pithing, simple past and past participle pithed)

1. (transitive) To extract the pith from (a plant stem or tree).
2. (transitive) To kill (especially cattle or laboratory animals) by cutting or piercing the spinal cord.

Etymology 2

From pi (“number 3.14159...”) +? -th.

Alternative forms

• pi-th

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa??/

Adjective

pith (not comparable)

1. The ordinal form of the number pi.

Translations

Noun

pith (plural piths)

1. One divided by pi.

Translations

Anagrams

• phit

Middle English

Alternative forms

• pithe, piþ, piþþe, pyþe, peþe, pyth, pythe

Etymology

From Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pi?(?)/, /?pið(?)/, /?pe??(?)/

Noun

pith (uncountable)

1. The soft interior portion of something, especially:
   1. (botany) pith (soft substance in the center of a plant's stem)
   2. The pulp (soft innards) of a fruit.
2. (figuratively) The essential or vital part; importance.
3. (figuratively) Power, strength, might.

Descendants

• English: pith
• Scots: pith

References

• “pith(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.