Meanings
plural emotions
- countableuncountableA person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.
He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC1 more example
“Just think about the last big decision you made. How much of it was based in emotion and how much was based in intellect? Most all big decisions are based in both.” […] Historically, placing weight on emotions has been dismissed. “What’s remarkable is that for so many years, people didn’t see emotions as conveying important messages,” he says.
2011 November 9, Susanne Gargiulo, “Emotional intelligence in the workplace”, in CNN - countableuncountableA reaction by a non-human organism with behavioral and physiological elements similar to a person's response.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
- Proto-Italic*moweō
- Latinmoveō
- Latinēmoveō
- Vulgar Latin*exmovēre
- Old Frenchesmovoir
- Middle Frenchesmouvoir
- Middle Frenchemotion
- Englishemotion
Borrowed from Middle French emotion (modern French émotion), from émouvoir (“excite”), based on Latin ēmōtus, past participle of ēmoveō (“to move out, move away, remove, stir up, irritate”), from ē- (“out”) (variant of ex-), and moveō (“move”).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans emosie
- emosieperson's internal state of being
Ancient Greek πάθος
- πάθος (páthos)person's internal state of being
Arabic عَاطِفَة, عَوَاطِف
- عَاطِفَة (ʕāṭifa)person's internal state of being
- عَوَاطِف (ʕawāṭif)person's internal state of being
- إِحْسَاس (ʔiḥsās)person's internal state of being
Bengali অনুভূতি
- অনুভূতি (onubhuti)person's internal state of being
Bulgarian чу́вство, емо́ция
- чу́вство (čúvstvo)person's internal state of being
- емо́ция (emócija)person's internal state of being
Catalan emoció
- emocióperson's internal state of being
Chinese Mandarin 感情, 情感
- 感情 (gǎnqíng)person's internal state of being
- 情感 (qínggǎn)person's internal state of being
Czech emoce
- emoceperson's internal state of being
Danish følelse, emotion
- følelseperson's internal state of being
- emotionperson's internal state of being
Dutch emotie
- emotieperson's internal state of being
Esperanto emocio
- emocioperson's internal state of being
Estonian emotsioon, tunne
- emotsioonperson's internal state of being
- tunneperson's internal state of being
Finnish tunne, tuntu
- tunneperson's internal state of being
- tuntuperson's internal state of being
- tuntemusperson's internal state of being
French émotion
- émotionperson's internal state of being
German Gefühl, Empfindung f Emotion
- Gefühlperson's internal state of being
- Empfindung f Emotionperson's internal state of being
Greek συναίσθημα
- συναίσθημα (synaísthima)person's internal state of being
Hebrew רֶגֶשׁ
- רֶגֶשׁ (régesh)person's internal state of being
Hindi भावना, जज़्बा
- भावना (bhāvnā)person's internal state of being
- जज़्बा (jazbā)person's internal state of being
- एहसास (ehsās)person's internal state of being
Hungarian érzés, érzelem
- érzésperson's internal state of being
- érzelemperson's internal state of being
Icelandic geðshræring
- geðshræringperson's internal state of being
Indonesian emosi
- emosiperson's internal state of being
Irish mothúchán
- mothúchánperson's internal state of being
Italian emozione
- emozioneperson's internal state of being
Japanese 感情, 心緒
- 感情 (kanjō)person's internal state of being
- 心緒 (shinsho)person's internal state of being
Korean 감정
- 감정 (gamjeong)person's internal state of being
Latin affectus, sensus
- affectusperson's internal state of being
- sensusperson's internal state of being
Latvian emocija
- emocijaperson's internal state of being
Lithuanian emocija
- emocijaperson's internal state of being
Māori panapana, kakare
- panapanaperson's internal state of being
- kakareperson's internal state of being
- aurongoperson's internal state of being
Norwegian Bokmål følelse, emosjon
- følelseperson's internal state of being
- emosjonperson's internal state of being
Polish emocja, uczucie
- emocjaperson's internal state of being
- uczucieperson's internal state of being
Portuguese emoção
- emoçãoperson's internal state of being
Romanian emoție
- emoțieperson's internal state of being
Russian эмо́ция, чу́вство
- эмо́ция (emócija)person's internal state of being
- чу́вство (čúvstvo)person's internal state of being
Scottish Gaelic faireachdainn, reachd
- faireachdainnperson's internal state of being
- reachdperson's internal state of being
Slovak emócia
- emóciaperson's internal state of being
Spanish afecto, emoción
- afectoperson's internal state of being
- emociónperson's internal state of being
Swedish känsla, emotion
- känslaperson's internal state of being
- emotionperson's internal state of being
Tagalog sandandam, emosyon
- sandandamperson's internal state of being
- emosyonperson's internal state of being
- damdaminperson's internal state of being
Tamil உணர்வு, உணர்ச்சி
- உணர்வு (uṇarvu)person's internal state of being
- உணர்ச்சி (uṇarcci)person's internal state of being
Thai อารมณ์
- อารมณ์ (aa-rom)person's internal state of being
Turkish duygu, his
- duyguperson's internal state of being
- hisperson's internal state of being
Ukrainian емо́ція, почуття́
- емо́ція (emócija)person's internal state of being
- почуття́ (počuttjá)person's internal state of being
Urdu جَذْبَہ, اِحْساس
- جَذْبَہ (jazba)person's internal state of being
- اِحْساس (ihsās)person's internal state of being
Vietnamese cảm xúc
- cảm xúcperson's internal state of being
Welsh emosiwn
- emosiwnperson's internal state of being
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with emotion
Anagrams
Cite this entry
emotion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emotion
“emotion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emotion. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “emotion,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emotion.
Source: emotion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.