sentence

Etymology

Borrowing from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō (“to feel, think”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

noun

1. (dated) The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.
   The court returned a sentence of guilt in the first charge, but innocence in the second.
   A branch that has played a significant part in the history of its territory is under sentence at the end of the summer timetables, so far as its passenger services are concerned. 1959 October, Colin G. Maggs, “The Bristol-Frome branch of the W.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 473
2. The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime.
   The judge declared a sentence of death by hanging for the infamous child rapist.
3. A punishment imposed on a person convicted of a crime.
4. (obsolete) A saying, especially from a great person; a maxim, an apophthegm.
5. (grammar) A grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate, even if one or the other is implied, and, in modern writing, when using e.g. the Latin, Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop or other punctuation.
   The children were made to construct sentences consisting of nouns and verbs from the list on the chalkboard.
6. (logic) A formula with no free variables.
7. (computing theory) Any of the set of strings that can be generated by a given formal grammar.
8. (obsolete) Sense; meaning; significance.
   Noght o word spak he moore than was neede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. General Prologue
   now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent. 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes
9. (obsolete) One's opinion; manner of thinking.
10. (now rare) A pronounced opinion or judgment on a given question.
    [I]f it may bee lawfull to iudge or giue any ſentence thereof, it [the author of the book of Ruth] was either Samuell, or ſome other godly Prophet vnder the raigne of Saule, … 1596, Edward Topsell, The Reward of Religion: Deliuered in Sundry Lectures Vpon the Booke of Ruth : Wherein the Godly May See Their Dayly Both Inward and Outward Trials : with the Presence of God to Assist Them, and His Mercies to Recompence Them …, London: John Windet, published 1601, page 1

verb

1. To declare a sentence on a convicted person; to condemn to punishment.
   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.
   Moreover, in 2002 two EPB officials in Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province, were sentenced to jail for failing to stop a chemical plant from discharging toxic waste into the drinking-water system. 2005, Elizabeth Economy, “Environmental Enforcement in China”, in Kristen A. Day, editor, China's Environment and the Challenge of Sustainable Development, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 109
   On Thursday, a court in south China's Hunan province sentenced a Chinese journalist, Yang Xiaoqing, to one year in jail for extortion after he wrote articles about official corruption. June 16, 2006, “China holds closed trial for researcher - Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-05, ASIA PACIFIC
   And at that point, we have sentenced a child to motherhood. Feb 21 2016, “Abortion Laws”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 2, John Oliver (actor), via HBO
2. (especially law or poetic) To decree, announce, or pass as a sentence.
   We are empowered to deliver thee to prison; yea, the law commands us to sentence death upon the abettors of this mischief.[…] 1874, Ella Taylor Disosway, South Meadows: A Tale of Long Ago, page 235
   So as far as the older generation of German Lutherans were concerned, the abolition of the mother language sentenced death upon the church as they knew it. 1977, Eugene B. Meier, How was the Acculturation of Children of Alt Lutheraner Descent in Wisconsin 1843 - 1915 Affected by the Relationship of Home and Market?: A Case Study, page 150
   But little did I know, As I cleared away that snow, I'd sentenced death upon that rose, For late that night it simply froze. I'd taken its one chance away, As I stripped it of its quilt that day. I learned a lesson late that night, ... 1991, Joe Wayman, If You Promise Not to Tell, Pieces of Learning, page 36
   […] upholding Idaho statute mandating that court "shall" sentence death upon finding an aggravating circumstance "unless" it finds outweighing mitigating circumstances because satisfies individualized sentencing requirement […] 1996, United States. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit), Annual Report of the Ninth Circuit, page 137
3. (obsolete) To utter sententiously.
   Let me heare one wise man sentence it, rather then twenty Fooles, garrulous in their lengthened tattle.