Adjacent Words

Sentence definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SEN'TENCE, n. [from L. sententia, from sentio, to think.]
1. In law, a judgement pronounced by a court or judge upon a criminal; a jdicial decision publicly and officially declared in a criminal prosecution. In technical language, sentence is used only for the declaration of judgement against the convicted of a crime. In civil cases, the decision of the court is called a judgement. In criminal cases, sentence is a judgement pronounced; doom.
2. In language not technical, a determination or decision given, particularly a decision that condemns, ar an unfavorable determination.
Let him be sent out lome of Luther's works, that by them we may pass sentence upon his doctrines. Atterbury.
3. An opinion; judgement concerning a controverted point.
4. A maxim; an axiom; a short saying containing moral instruction.
5. Vindication of one's innocence.
6. In grammar, a period; a number of words containing a complete sense or sentiment, and followed by a full pause. Sentences are simple or compound. A simple sentence consists of one subject and one finite verb; as, "the Lord reigns." A compound sentence two or more subjects and finite verbs, as in this verse,
He fills, he bounds, connects and equals all. Pope.
A dark sentence, a saying not easily explained.
SEN'TENCE, v. t.
1. To pass or pronounce the judgement of a court on; to doom; as, to sentence a convict to death, to transportation, or to imprisonment.
2. To condenm; to doom to punisment.
Nature herself is sentenc'd in your doom. Dryden.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a language; "he always spoke in grammatical sentences"
2: (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed; "the conviction came as no surprise" [syn: conviction, judgment of conviction, condemnation, sentence] [ant: acquittal]
3: the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned; "he served a prison term of 15 months"; "his sentence was 5 to 10 years"; "he is doing time in the county jail" [syn: prison term, sentence, time] v
1: pronounce a sentence on (somebody) in a court of law; "He was condemned to ten years in prison" [syn: sentence, condemn, doom]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin sententia feeling, opinion, from *sentent-, *sentens, irregular present participle of sentire to feel — more at sense Date: 14th century 1. obsolete opinion; especially a conclusion given on request or reached after deliberation 2. a. judgment 2a; specifically one formally pronounced by a court or judge in a criminal proceeding and specifying the punishment to be inflicted upon the convict b. the punishment so imposed <serve out a sentence> 3. archaic maxim, saw 4. a. a word, clause, or phrase or a group of clauses or phrases forming a syntactic unit which expresses an assertion, a question, a command, a wish, an exclamation, or the performance of an action, that in writing usually begins with a capital letter and concludes with appropriate end punctuation, and that in speaking is distinguished by characteristic patterns of stress, pitch, and pauses b. a mathematical or logical statement (as an equation or a proposition) in words or symbols 5. period 2b II. transitive verb (sentenced; sentencing) Date: 1592 1. to impose a sentence on 2. to cause to suffer something <sentenced these most primitive cultures to extinction — E. W. Count>

Britannica Concise

In criminal law, a judgment formally pronouncing the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime. Among the major types are the concurrent sentence, which runs at the same time as another; the consecutive sentence, which runs before or after another; the mandatory sentence, which is specifically required by statute as punishment for an offense; and the suspended sentence, the imposition or execution of which is suspended by the court. See also capital punishment, parole.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a a set of words complete in itself as the expression of a thought, containing or implying a subject and predicate, and conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command. b a piece of writing or speech between two full stops or equivalent pauses, often including several grammatical sentences (e.g. I went; he came). 2 a a decision of a lawcourt, esp. the punishment allotted to a person convicted in a criminal trial. b the declaration of this. 3 Logic a series of signs or symbols expressing a proposition in an artificial or logical language. --v.tr. 1 declare the sentence of (a convicted criminal etc.). 2 (foll. by to) declare (such a person) to be condemned to a specified punishment. Phrases and idioms: under sentence of having been condemned to (under sentence of death). Etymology: ME f. OF f. L sententia opinion f. sentire be of opinion

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sentence Sen"tence, n. [F., from L. sententia, for sentientia, from sentire to discern by the senses and the mind, to feel, to think. See Sense, n., and cf. Sentiensi.] 1. Sense; meaning; significance. [Obs.] Tales of best sentence and most solace. --Chaucer. The discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence. --Milton. 2. (a) An opinion; a decision; a determination; a judgment, especially one of an unfavorable nature. My sentence is for open war. --Milton. That by them [Luther's works] we may pass sentence upon his doctrines. --Atterbury. (b) A philosophical or theological opinion; a dogma; as, Summary of the Sentences; Book of the Sentences. 3. (Law) In civil and admiralty law, the judgment of a court pronounced in a cause; in criminal and ecclesiastical courts, a judgment passed on a criminal by a court or judge; condemnation pronounced by a judgical tribunal; doom. In common law, the term is exclusively used to denote the judgment in criminal cases. Received the sentence of the law. --Shak. 4. A short saying, usually containing moral instruction; a maxim; an axiom; a saw. --Broome. 5. (Gram.) A combination of words which is complete as expressing a thought, and in writing is marked at the close by a period, or full point. See Proposition, 4. Note: Sentences are simple or compound. A simple sentence consists of one subject and one finite verb; as, ``The Lord reigns.'' A compound sentence contains two or more subjects and finite verbs, as in this verse: He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all. --Pope. Dark sentence, a saving not easily explained. A king . . . understanding dark sentences. --Dan. vii. 23.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sentence Sen"tence, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sentenced; p. pr. & vb. n. Sentencing.] 1. To pass or pronounce judgment upon; to doom; to condemn to punishment; to prescribe the punishment of. Nature herself is sentenced in your doom. --Dryden. 2. To decree or announce as a sentence. [Obs.] --Shak. 3. To utter sententiously. [Obs.] --Feltham.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sentences, sentencing, sentenced) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A sentence is a group of words which, when they are written down, begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark. Most sentences contain a subject and a verb. N-COUNT 2. In a law court, a sentence is the punishment that a person receives after they have been found guilty of a crime. They are already serving prison sentences for their part in the assassination... He was given a four-year sentence... The offences carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. ...demands for tougher sentences... The court is expected to pass sentence later today. N-VAR see also death sentence, life sentence, suspended sentence 3. When a judge sentences someone, he or she states in court what their punishment will be. A military court sentenced him to death in his absence... He has admitted the charge and will be sentenced later. VERB: V n to n, be V-ed

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sen'-tens: Eight Hebrew and three Greek words are thus translated in the King James Version. Sometimes it points to a mystery (Da 5:12; 8:23); then again to the contents of the Law (De 17:11); then again to the idea of judgment (Ps 17:2) or of a judicial sentence (2Co 1:9; Lu 23:24), or of judicial advice (Ac 15:19, the American Standard Revised Version "judgment").

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Decision, judgment, determination, opinion. 2. Dogma, doctrine, tenet, opinion. 3. (Common Law.) Condemnation, doom, judgment, passed on a criminal. 4. (Civil and Admiralty Law.) Judicial decree. 5. Period, proposition. 6. Maxim, axiom, apothegm. II. v. a. Doom, condemn, pass judgment upon.

Moby Thesaurus

Parthian shot, acquittal, act on, action, adage, address, adjectival phrase, adjudge, adjudicate, affirmation, allegation, ana, analects, anathematize, anathematizing, answer, aphorism, apostrophe, apothegm, article, assertion, attaint, averment, award, axiom, back matter, blacklist, blame, book, bring home to, byword, catchword, censure, chapter, clause, collected sayings, comment, condemn, condemnation, consideration, construction, convict, conviction, crack, current saying, damn, damnation, death sentence, death warrant, decision, declaration, decree, deliverance, denounce, denouncement, denunciate, denunciation, determination, devote, diagnosis, dictate, dictum, distich, doom, epigram, exclamation, excommunicate, excommunication, expression, fascicle, find, find against, find for, find guilty, finding, folio, front matter, gathering, gnome, golden saying, greeting, guilty verdict, headed group, idiom, idiotism, interjection, judge, judgement, judgment, landmark decision, locution, manner of speaking, maxim, mention, moral, mot, motto, note, noun phrase, number, observation, oracle, ordain, order, page, paragraph, pass judgment, pass sentence, pass sentence on, passage, peculiar expression, penalize, penalty, period, phrasal idiom, phrase, pithy saying, position, precedent, precept, prescript, prognosis, pronounce, pronounce judgment, pronounce on, pronounce sentence, pronouncement, proscribe, proscription, proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, punish, punishment, question, rap, reflection, remark, report, resolution, return a verdict, rule, ruling, saw, say, saying, section, sententious expression, set phrase, sheet, signature, sloka, standard phrase, statement, stock saying, subjoinder, sutra, syntactic structure, teaching, term, text, thought, turn of expression, turn of phrase, usage, utter a judgment, utterance, verb complex, verb phrase, verbalism, verdict, verdict of guilty, verse, way of speaking, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise saying, witticism, word, word-group, words of wisdom