Definition of: sensation

(sen·sā′shən) noun
1. Physiol. a That aspect of consciousness resulting from the stimulation of a nerve process beginning at any point in the body and passing through the brain, especially by those stimuli affecting any of the sense organs, as hearing, taste, touch, smell, and sight. b The capacity to respond to such stimulation.
2. That which produces interest or excitement; an excited condition: to cause a sensation.
3. A condition of mind resulting from inherent feeling; emotion. [<Med. L sensatio, -onis <LL sensatus. See SENSATE.] Synonyms: emotion, feeling, perception, sense. Sensation is the mind's consciousness due to bodily response to stimuli, as heat or sound; perception is the cognition of some external object which causes the sensation. While sensations are connected with the body, emotions add the reactions of the mind. Feeling is a term popularly denoting what is felt, whether through the body or by the mind alone, and includes both sensation and emotion. A sense is an organ or faculty of sensation or of perception. See FEELING.