emotion

Noun

emotion (countable and uncountable, plural emotions)

1. (obsolete) Movement; agitation.
   • and the water continuing in the caverns[…]caused the emotion or earthquake1758, “Observations on a slight Earthquake”, in Philosophical Transactions, volume L, page 246
2. A 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, →OCLC
   • “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...2011 November 9, Susanne Gargiulo, “Emotional intelligence in the workplace”, in CNN

   Synonyms:

   feeling, affect

3. A reaction by a non-human organism with behavioral and physiological elements similar to a person's response.