different between thought vs sensibility

English

Alternative forms

• thowt (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English thought, itho?t, from Old English þ?ht, ?eþ?ht, from Proto-Germanic *þanhtaz, *gaþanht? (“thought”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think”). Cognate with Scots thocht (“thought”), Saterland Frisian Toacht (“thought”), West Frisian dacht (“attention, regard, thought”), Dutch gedachte (“thought”), German Andacht (“reverence, devotion, prayer”), Icelandic þóttur (“thought”). Related to thank.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thôt
• (UK) IPA^(key): /???t/
• Rhymes: -??t
• (US) IPA^(key): /??t/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??t/
• (Inland Northern American) IPA^(key): /??t/
• Homophone: thot (in accents with the cot-caught merger)

Noun

thought (countable and uncountable, plural thoughts)

1. (countable) Form created in the mind, rather than the forms perceived through the five senses; an instance of thinking.
2. (uncountable) The operation by which such forms arise or are manipulated; the process of thinking; the agency by which thinking is accomplished.
   • a. 1983', Paul Fix (attributed quote)

     The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.

3. (uncountable) A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation or region).

4. (uncountable, now dialectal) Anxiety, distress.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

thought

1. simple past tense and past participle of think

Middle English

Alternative forms

• thoughte, thougt, thouhte, thoute
• thogt, thohte, thogh

Etymology

From Old English þ?ht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?o?xt/, /??u?xt/

Noun

thought (plural thoughtes)

1. product of mental activity

Descendants

• English: thought
• Scots: thocht
• Yola: thaugkt

References

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

English

Etymology

sensible +? -ity, from Middle French sensibilité, and its source, Latin s?nsibilit?s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?ns??b?l?ti/

Noun

sensibility (countable and uncountable, plural sensibilities)

1. The ability to sense, feel or perceive; responsiveness to sensory stimuli; sensitivity. [from 15th c.]
   • 2011, William Thomson, Reprint of Papers on Electrostatics and Magnetism, p. 204:

     The high sensibility of the divided ring electrometer renders this test really very easy […].

2. Emotional or artistic awareness; keen sensitivity to matters of feeling or creative expression. [from 17th c.]
   • 2015, Kathleen T. Galvin, Monica Prendergast, Poetic Inquiry II, p. 266:

     By poetic ethic I am speaking about the intention to act on, and incorporate into a narrative configuration, values and beliefs that promote a poetic ontology and a poetic sensibility.

3. (now rare, archaic) Excessive emotional awareness; the fact or quality of being overemotional. [from 18th c.]
   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 106:

     People of sensibility have seldom good tempers.

4. (in the plural) An acute awareness or feeling. [from 18th c.]

5. (obsolete) The capacity to be perceived by the senses. [15th–17th c.]

Translations

Further reading

• "sensibility" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 280.