Emotions

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɪˈməʊ.ʃənz/

Definitions

1. A range of psychological experiences characterized by feelings that are often triggered by external or internal stimuli and can affect thoughts and actions
2. Various states of feeling that arise from personal experiences or environmental interactions, influencing how one thinks and behaves
3. Psychological conditions involving feelings that shape mood and behavior

Etymology: The word "emotion" entered English as a borrowing from Middle French "emotion", which carried a sense that surprises modern readers: physical movement. Its French source, "émouvoir", meant "excite" or "stir up", and it descended from Latin "ēmoveō", literally "to move out, move away, remove". Those Latin pieces were "ē-", "out", a variant of "ex-", joined to "moveō", "move". A feeling, in other words, was originally pictured as something stirred up and set in motion from within. Because the word is a plural, "emotions" is simply the plural of "emotion", so it names the many stirrings of feeling a person experiences. The plural has the same origin as its singular, tracing back to that Latin image of movement.

Synonyms: feelings, sentiments, moods, passions, affects

Antonyms: apathy, indifference, dispassion