WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Sen`si*bil"i*ty
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [Cf. F. sensibilit?, LL. sensibilitas.]
Definition : 1. (Physiol.)

Defn: The quality or state of being sensible, or capable of sensation; capacity to feel or perceive.

2. The capacity of emotion or feeling, as distinguished from the intellect and the will; peculiar susceptibility of impression, pleasurable or painful; delicacy of feeling; quick emotion or sympathy; as, sensibility to pleasure or pain; sensibility to shame or praise; exquisite sensibility; -- often used in the plural. "Sensibilities so fine!" Cowper. The true lawgiver ought to have a heart full of sensibility. Burke. His sensibilities seem rather to have been those of patriotism than of wounded pride. Marshall.

3. Experience of sensation; actual feeling. This adds greatly to my sensibility. Burke.

4. That quality of an instrument which makes it indicate very slight changes of condition; delicacy; as, the sensibility of a balance, or of a thermometer.

Syn. -- Taste; susceptibility; feeling. See Taste.

pl. Sensibilities.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913