sens
French, noun/sɑ̃s/
sens is spelled S-E-N-S (4 letters) and appears 316 times per million words in written French, the 257th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Sens is a French masculine noun meaning “meaning, sense” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/second-person singular indicative present of sentir. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Signification, ce que quelque chose veut dire”.
What does sens mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinemeaning, sense
le sens ultime de la vie
- 2
masculinesense, sensation
- 3
masculinesense, intelligence
bon sens
- 4
masculinedirection of circulation
voie à sens unique
verb
- 1
first/second-person singular indicative present
- 2
second-person singular imperative
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Signification, ce que quelque chose veut dire. 2. Idée cohérente qu'on se fait de sa place dans l'univers et du déroulement de sa vie. 3. Faculté de percevoir les impressions faites par les objets extérieurs. 4. Manière de juger, de comprendre. Qui exprime le sentiment, l’opinion de quelqu’un concernant un sujet donné.
noun: 1. Direction de circulation d’un flux. 2. Un des côtés d’une chose, d’un corps. 3. L’un ou l’autre des parcours possibles d’une droite, ou l’une des caractéristiques d’une demi-droite ou d’un vecteur non nul.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce sens?
- /sɑ̃s/
- /sɑ̃/
- \sɑ̃s\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to sens
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sens in French?
sens appears 316 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).