Sentence - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Sentence :  (noun)
1: a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a language; "he always spoke in grammatical sentences"
2: (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed; "the conviction came as no surprise" [syn: conviction, judgment of conviction, condemnation] [ant: acquittal]
3: the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned; "he served a prison term of 15 months"; "his sentence was 5 to 10 years"; "he is doing time in the county jail" [syn: prison term, time] (verb)

1: pronounce a sentence on (somebody) in a court of law; "He was condemned to ten years in prison" [syn: condemn, doom]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Sentence : \Sen"tence\, n. [F., from L. sententia, for sentientia, from sentire to discern by the senses and the mind, to feel, to think. See Sense, n., and cf. Sentiensi.] 1. Sense; meaning; significance. [Obs.]

Tales of best sentence and most solace. --Chaucer.

The discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence. --Milton.

2. (a) An opinion; a decision; a determination; a judgment, especially one of an unfavorable nature.

My sentence is for open war. --Milton.

That by them [Luther's works] we may pass sentence upon his doctrines. --Atterbury. (b) A philosophical or theological opinion; a dogma; as, Summary of the Sentences; Book of the Sentences.

3. (Law) In civil and admiralty law, the judgment of a court pronounced in a cause; in criminal and ecclesiastical courts, a judgment passed on a criminal by a court or judge; condemnation pronounced by a judgical tribunal; doom. In common law, the term is exclusively used to denote the judgment in criminal cases.

Received the sentence of the law. --Shak.

4. A short saying, usually containing moral instruction; a maxim; an axiom; a saw. --Broome.

5. (Gram.) A combination of words which is complete as expressing a thought, and in writing is marked at the close by a period, or full point. See Proposition, 4.

Note: Sentences are simple or compound. A simple sentence consists of one subject and one finite verb; as, ``The Lord reigns.'' A compound sentence contains two or more subjects and finite verbs, as in this verse:

He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all. --Pope.

Dark sentence, a saving not easily explained.

A king . . . understanding dark sentences. --Dan. vii. 23.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Sentence : \Sen"tence\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sentenced; p. pr. & vb. n. Sentencing.] 1. To pass or pronounce judgment upon; to doom; to condemn to punishment; to prescribe the punishment of.

Nature herself is sentenced in your doom. --Dryden.

2. To decree or announce as a sentence. [Obs.] --Shak.

3. To utter sententiously. [Obs.] --Feltham.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

SENTENCE. A judgment, or judicial declaration made by a judge in a cause. The term judgment is more usually applied to civil, andSentence : to criminal proceedings. 2. Sentences are final, when they put, an end to the case; or interlocutory, when they settle only some incidental matter which has arisen in the course of its progress. Vide Aso & Man. Inst. B. 3, t. 8, c. 1.

Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:

Sentence : 

A collection of clauses.

See also definite sentence.

(2003-12-04)



Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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