Sentence Definition

Contents

• 1 English
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Pronunciation
  • 1.3 Noun
    • 1.3.1 Synonyms
    • 1.3.2 Hypernyms
    • 1.3.3 Related terms
    • 1.3.4 Translations
  • 1.4 Verb
    • 1.4.1 Translations
  • 1.5 External links
• 2 Czech
  • 2.1 Noun
• 3 Middle French
  • 3.1 Etymology
  • 3.2 Noun

English

Etymology

From Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiens, present participle of sentīre (“to feel, think”); see sentient, sense, scent.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɛntəns/, SAMPA: /"sEnt@ns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sen‧tence

Noun

sentence (plural sentences)

1. (obsolete) One's opinion; manner of thinking. [14th-17th c.]
2. (now rare) Someone's pronounced opinion or judgment on a given question. [from 14th c.]
3. (dated) The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict. [from 14th c.]

   The court returned a sentence of guilt in the first charge, but innocence in the second.

4. The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime. [from 14th c.]

   The judge declared a sentence of death by hanging for the infamous cattle rustler.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

5. (obsolete) A saying, especially form a great person; a maxim, an apophthegm. [14th-19th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.40:

     Men (saith an ancient Greek sentence) are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not by things themselves.

6. (grammar) A grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate, even if one or the other is implied, and typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop. [from 15th c.]

   The children were made to construct sentences consisting of nouns and verbs from the list on the chalkboard.

7. (logic) A formula with no free variables. [from 20th c.]
8. (computing theory) Any of the set of strings that can be generated by a given formal grammar. [from 20th c.]

Synonyms

• verdict
• conviction

Hypernyms

• (logic): formula

Related terms

• sentential

Verb

sentence (third-person singular simple present sentences, present participle sentencing, simple past and past participle sentenced)

1. To declare a sentence on a convicted person.

   The judge sentenced the embezzler to ten years in prison, along with a hefty fine.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

Translations

External links

• sentence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• sentence in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Czech

Noun

sentence f.

1. sentence (formula with no free variables)

Middle French

Etymology

Latin sententia.

Noun

sentence f. (plural sentences)

1. sentence (judgement; verdict)
   • 1532, François Rabelais, Pantagruel:

     […] puis retourna s'asseoir et commença pronuncer la sentence comme s'ensuyt :

     […] then went back and sat down and started to give the verdict as follows:

2. sentence (grammatically complete series of words)
   • 1552, François Rabelais, Le Tiers Livre:

     tant a cause des amphibologies, equivocques, & obscuritez des motz, que de la briefveté des sentences

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