Cenesthesia

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌsiːnɪsˈθiːzɪə/

Definitions

1. The sensory awareness of internal bodily processes that conveys information about one's physical condition is a key aspect of human perception
2. The conscious recognition of internal bodily sensations that reflects the awareness of physiological processes is essential to self-perception
3. The perception of sensations arising from within the body that provides insight into physical status

Etymology: Cenesthesia is built from two Greek elements. The second, "-esthesia", comes from Greek "aisthesis", meaning perception or sensation, the same root behind "anesthesia" and "synesthesia". The first element, "cen-", is a combining form of Greek "koinos", meaning common, so the word's underlying sense is something like "common sensation": the general, diffuse awareness of one's own body that does not come from any single sense organ. The word is a technical coinage rather than an ancient one, so it has no classical usage to trace. Its meaning is what the parts suggest: the collective background feeling of the body's internal state, such as a vague sense of being well or unwell, of hunger, fatigue or heaviness, that arises from the body as a whole rather than from sight, touch or hearing.