sentence

Syllables: sen·tence/ˈsɛn.təns/[ˈsɛn.tn̩(t)s]

sentence noun: the decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.

Noun

sentence (plural sentences)

(dated) The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.
- The court returned a sentence of guilt in the first charge, but innocence in the second.
- A branch that has played a significant part in the history of its territory is under sentence at the end of the summer timetables, so far as its passenger services are concerned.1959 October, Colin G. Maggs, “The Bristol-Frome branch of the W.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 473
The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime.
- The judge declared a sentence of death by hanging for the infamous child rapist.
- The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC
A punishment imposed on a person convicted of a crime.
(obsolete) A saying, especially from a great person; a maxim, an apophthegm.
- Men (saith an ancient Greek sentence) are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not by things themselves.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- I am told that she writes well, and that all her letters are full of sentences.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC
A grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate, even if one or the other is implied. In modern writing, when using, e.g., the Latin, Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop or other punctuation.
- Near-synonym: clause
- The children were made to construct sentences consisting of nouns and verbs from the list on the chalkboard.
Synonyms:

clause
A formula with no free variables.
Any of the set of strings that can be generated by a given formal grammar.
(obsolete) Sense; meaning; significance.
- Noght o word spak he moore than was neede, / And that was seyd in forme and reverence / And short and quyk and ful of hy sentence […][1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Prologues”, in The Canterbury Tales (in Middle English), [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes...
- now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent.1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC
(obsolete) One's opinion; manner of thinking.
- My sentence is for open war.1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- The book of ſentences, which rendered the name of Peter Lombard ſo illuſtrious, was a compilation of ſentences, and paſſages, drawn from the fathers, whoſe manifold contradictions, this eminent prelate endeavoured to reconcile.1764, Johann Lorenz von Mosheim, translated by Archibald Maclaine, An Ecclesiastical History, Antient and Modern, from the Birth of Christ to the Beginning of the Present Century, page 598
(archaic) A pronounced opinion or judgment on a given question.
- [I]f it may bee lawfull to iudge or giue any ſentence thereof, it [the author of the book of Ruth] was either Samuell, or ſome other godly Prophet vnder the raigne of Saule, [...]1596, Edward Topsell, The Reward of Religion: Deliuered in Sundry Lectures Vpon the Booke of Ruth : Wherein the Godly May See Their Dayly Both Inward and Outward Trials : with the Presence of God to...
- By them [Martin Luther's works] we might pass sentence upon his doctrines.1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Sheldonian] Theater, →OCLC

Verb

sentence (third-person singular simple present sentences, present participle sentencing, simple past and past participle sentenced)

(transitive) To declare a sentence on a convicted person; to condemn to punishment.
- The judge sentenced the embezzler to ten years in prison, along with a hefty fine.
- Nature herself is sentenced in your doom.1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number)
Synonyms:

adjudge, condemn, doom, convict, damn, deem, judge, pass sentence
(especially, poetic) To decree, announce, or pass as a sentence.
- “We are empowered to deliver thee to prison; yea, the law commands us to sentence death upon the abettors of this mischief.[…]"1874, Ella Taylor Disosway, South Meadows: A Tale of Long Ago, page 235
- So as far as the older generation of German Lutherans were concerned, the abolition of the mother language sentenced death upon the church as they knew it.1977, Eugene B. Meier, How was the Acculturation of Children of Alt Lutheraner Descent in Wisconsin 1843 - 1915 Affected by the Relationship of Home and Market?: A Case Study, page 150
(obsolete) To utter sententiously.
- Let me heare one wise man sentence it, rather then twenty Fooles, garrulous in their lengthened tattle.1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political

sentence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

sentence in Hindi

(dated) decision or judgement of a court — see also judgment, verdict: सज़ा sazā, निर्णय nirṇay, फ़ैसला faislā
punishment imposed on a person convicted of a crime — see also punishment: दंड daṇḍ, सज़ा sazā
grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate: वाक्य vākya

sentence in Tamil

சொற்றொடர், வாக்கியம், தீர்ப்பு, அனுப்புதல், தீர்ப்பு அளி

sentence in Marathi

grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate: वाक्य vākya
declare a sentence on a convicted person: शिक्षा सुनावणे śikṣā sunāvṇe

sentence in Urdu

(dated) decision or judgement of a court — see also judgment, verdict: حُکْم hukm, فَیصْلَہ faisla, سَزا sazā
punishment imposed on a person convicted of a crime — see also punishment: سَزا sazā
grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate: جُمْلَہ jumla

More languagesFewer languages

sentence in Bengali: বাক্য bakko
sentence in Telugu: శిక్ష śikṣa, వాక్యము vākyamu
sentence in Malayalam: വിധി vidhi, ശിക്ഷ śikṣa, വാക്യം vākyaṁ
sentence in Kannada: ವಾಕ್ಯ vākya
sentence in Punjabi: ਵਾਕ vāk
sentence in Gujarati: વાક્ય vākya
sentence in Odia: କଥା kathā
sentence in Sanskrit: वाक्य vākya
sentence in Sinhala: වාක්යය wākyaya
sentence in Nepali: वाक्य wākya
sentence in Pashto: حکم hokm, فيصله faysala, جمله jomla
sentence in Tagalog: desisyon, hatol, pasiya, sentensya
sentence in Arabic: حُكْم ḥukm, جُمْلَة jumla, حَكَمَ ḥakama, أَدَانَ ʔadāna
sentence in Malay: hukuman, ayat, kalimat
sentence in Indonesian: vonis, kalimat, menyatakan bersalah
sentence in Persian: محکوم کردن mahkum kardan
sentence in Thai: คำพิพากษา kam-pí-pâak-sǎa, ประโยค bprà-yòok, พิพากษา pí-pâak-sǎa
sentence in Vietnamese: bản án, án, câu
sentence in Myanmar: ဝါကျ wa-kya.

Examples of sentence in a sentence

While Christopher Below was released in 2021 after completing his sentence, Hall is currently still serving his life sentence in federal prison for a 1993 kidnapping he confessed to.2026 August 6, Nicholas Muhoro, “An Ohio Teen Vanished During a One-Mile Drive in 1994. Her Locked Car Was Found Hours Later”, in Skip...
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; […]1915 June, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, in Prufrock and Other Observations, London: The Egoist […]...
Moreover, in 2002 two EPB officials in Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province, were sentenced to jail for failing to stop a chemical plant from discharging toxic waste into the drinking-water system.2005, Elizabeth Economy, “Environmental Enforcement in China”, in Kristen A. Day, editor, China's Environment and the Challenge of...
On Thursday, a court in south China's Hunan province sentenced a Chinese journalist, Yang Xiaoqing, to one year in jail for extortion after he wrote articles about official corruption.2006 June 16, “China holds closed trial for researcher - Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune”, in The New York Times, →ISSN...

All 40 example sentences with sentence

Synonyms of sentence

1 more synonymsFewer synonyms

judge

All synonyms of sentence

Forms of sentence

Noun
plural	sentences
Verb
third-person singular present	sentences
present participle	sentencing
past participle	sentenced
past	sentenced

Plural of sentence: sentences

Origin of sentence

Borrowed from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō (“to feel, think”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”).

Words formed from sentence

Phrases with sentence

8 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about sentence

What does sentence mean?: Sentence means the decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict.
What is sentence in Hindi?: Sentence in Hindi is सज़ा (sazā), निर्णय (nirṇay), फ़ैसला (faislā). See Sentence meaning in Hindi.
How do you use sentence in a sentence?: While Christopher Below was released in 2021 after completing his sentence, Hall is currently still serving his life sentence in federal prison for a 1993 kidnapping he confessed to.
What part of speech is sentence?: Sentence can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce sentence?: Sentence is pronounced /ˈsɛn.təns/.
What is the plural of sentence?: The plural of sentence is sentences.

Words near sentence in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: sentence (page history and authors); sentence (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਵਾਕ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); વાક્ય (Gujarati) (page history and authors); କଥା (Odia) (page history and authors); वाक्य (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sentence.ogg.

Cite this entry: “sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.