Sentence
Middle English (in the senses ‘way of thinking, opinion’, ‘court's declaration of punishment’, and ‘gist (of a piece of writing’)): via Old French from Latin sententia ‘opinion’, from sentire ‘feel, be of the opinion’.
wiktionary
Borrowing from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia(“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō(“to feel, think”); see sentient, sentience, sense, scent.
etymonline
sentence (n.)
c. 1200, "doctrine, authoritative teaching; an authoritative pronouncement," from Old French sentence "judgment, decision; meaning; aphorism, maxim; statement of authority" (12c.) and directly from Latin sententia "thought, way of thinking, opinion; judgment, decision," also "a thought expressed; aphorism, saying," from sentientem, present participle of sentire "be of opinion, feel, perceive" (see sense (n.)). Loss of first -i- in Latin by dissimilation.
From early 14c. as "judgment rendered by God, or by one in authority; a verdict, decision in court;" from late 14c. as "understanding, wisdom; edifying subject matter." From late 14c. as "subject matter or content of a letter, book, speech, etc.," also in reference to a passage in a written work. Sense of "grammatically complete statement" is attested from mid-15c. "Meaning," then "meaning expressed in words." Related: Sentential.
sentence (v.)
"to pass judgment," c. 1400, from sentence (n.). Related: Sentenced; sentencing.
