FEELING (2)

Feel″ing, n. 1. 1. The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external objects.
Why was the sight To such a tender ball as the eye confined, . . . And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused? Milton. 2. 2. An act or state of perception by the sense above described; an act of apprehending any object whatever; an act or state of apprehending the state of the soul itself; consciousness.
The apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the worse. Shak. 3. 3. The capacity of the soul for emotional states; a high degree of susceptibility to emotions or states of the sensibility not dependent on the body; as, a man of feeling; a man destitute of feeling.
4. 4. Any state or condition of emotion; the exercise of the capacity for emotion; any mental state whatever; as, a right or a wrong feeling in the heart; our angry or kindly feelings; a feeling of pride or of humility.
A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind. Garrick. Tenderness for the feelings of others. Macaulay. 5. 5. That quality of a work of art which embodies the mental emotion of the artist, and is calculated to affect similarly the spectator. Fairholt.
Syn. — Sensation; emotion; passion; sentiment; agitation; opinion. See Emotion, Passion, Sentiment.