n. [ Cf. F. sensation. See Sensate. ] 1. (Physiol.) An impression, or the consciousness of an impression, made upon the central nervous organ, through the medium of a sensory or afferent nerve or one of the organs of sense; a feeling, or state of consciousness, whether agreeable or disagreeable, produced either by an external object (stimulus), or by some change in the internal state of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Perception is only a special kind of knowledge, and sensation a special kind of feeling. . . . Knowledge and feeling, perception and sensation, though always coexistent, are always in the inverse ratio of each other. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A purely spiritual or psychical affection; agreeable or disagreeable feelings occasioned by objects that are not corporeal or material. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A state of excited interest or feeling, or that which causes it. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sensation caused by the appearance of that work is still remembered by many. Brougham. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Perception. -- Sensation, Perseption. The distinction between these words, when used in mental philosophy, may be thus stated; if I simply smell a rose, I have a sensation; if I refer that smell to the external object which occasioned it, I have a perception. Thus, the former is mere feeling, without the idea of an object; the latter is the mind's apprehension of some external object as occasioning that feeling. “Sensation properly expresses that change in the state of the mind which is produced by an impression upon an organ of sense (of which change we can conceive the mind to be conscious, without any knowledge of external objects). Perception, on the other hand, expresses the knowledge or the intimations we obtain by means of our sensations concerning the qualities of matter, and consequently involves, in every instance, the notion of externality, or outness, which it is necessary to exclude in order to seize the precise import of the word sensation.” Fleming. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to sensation; as, sensational nerves. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to sensationalism, or the doctrine that sensation is the sole origin of knowledge. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Suited or intended to excite temporarily great interest or emotion; melodramatic; emotional; as, sensational plays or novels; sensational preaching; sensational journalism; a sensational report. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Metaph.) The doctrine held by Condillac, and by some ascribed to Locke, that our ideas originate solely in sensation, and consist of sensations transformed; sensualism; -- opposed to intuitionalism, and rationalism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The practice or methods of sensational writing or speaking; as, the sensationalism of a novel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Metaph.) An advocate of, or believer in, philosophical sensationalism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who practices sensational writing or speaking. [ 1913 Webster ]