What does "sentence" mean?

1. (grammar) a group of words that starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark. 2. (legal punishment) the official punishment given by a judge to someone who has committed a crime. 3. (a wise saying) a short, wise statement or a famous saying.

sentence

US //ˈsɛntəns// UK //sˈɛntəns// sen·tence

1 grammar (n.)
A1 Beginner Science

a group of words that starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark.

a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that are grammatically linked and express a complete thought.

Example

Please write a short sentence about your favorite hobby.

Example

The student struggled to identify the main verb in the complex sentence, despite having a strong grasp of basic syntax.
- statement
- clause
2 legal punishment (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Law

the official punishment given by a judge to someone who has committed a crime.

the formal pronouncement of punishment by a court of law upon a defendant who has been found guilty.

Example

The judge gave him a three-year sentence for the robbery.

Example

The defendant received a suspended sentence on the condition that he perform two hundred hours of community service over the next year.
- acquittal

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3 a wise saying (n.)
C2 Proficiency Literary Archaic

a short, wise statement or a famous saying.

a concise statement of a principle or a maxim. This sense is largely restricted to literary or historical contexts.

Example

The old book was full of wise sentences about how to live a good life.

Example

The philosopher's prose was dense with pithy sentences that required deep reflection to fully comprehend.

Origin

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”).