Sensor Is Barely Seventy Years Old
A sensor detects something and reports it. The Latin root is ancient, but the English word was coined in the 1950s.
A sensor is a device that detects a physical property and turns it into a signal. The Latin *sentire*, to feel, has been producing English words for centuries — sense, sentiment, consent, resent, sentence — but *sensor* itself is new, built in the 1950s when machines first needed a name for the part that feels.
- A detecting device. *A motion sensor.*
- In a camera — the chip that captures light. *A full-frame sensor.*
- Sensor array — several working together. *A sensor array on the wing.*
- Sensory — relating to the senses. *Sensory overload.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | sensor | A pressure sensor. |
| Plural | sensors | Dozens of sensors. |
| Adjective | sensory | Sensory nerves. |
| Root | sense | A sense of smell. |
| Confusable | censor | A film censor. |
- The sensor triggers the light at dusk.Everyday technology.
- A larger sensor gathers more light.Photography.
- Sensors detected a drop in pressure.Engineering.
Sensor, censor, censer
- Sensor — a device that detects
- Censor — a person who suppresses material
- Censer — a container for burning incense
- Censure — formal disapproval, a fourth confusable
- Only the first comes from *sentire*, to feel
From *sense* plus the agent ending -or, on the model of Latin words in *-sor*. First recorded in English in the 1950s, as electronics made the concept necessary.
What is the difference between sensor and censor?
A sensor detects; a censor suppresses. They are unrelated words that sound the same.
How old is the word sensor?
It first appears in English in the 1950s, although its Latin root is thousands of years older.