Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Emotion?

\E*mo"tion\, n. [L. emovere, emotum, to remove, shake, stir up; e out + movere to move: cf. F. ['e]motion. See {Move}, and cf. {Emmove}.] A moving of the mind or soul; excitement of the feelings, whether pleasing or painful; disturbance or agitation of mind caused by a specific exciting cause and manifested by some sensible effect on the body. How different the emotions between departure and return! --W. Irving. Some vague emotion of delight. --Tennyson. Syn: Feeling; agitation; tremor; trepidation; perturbation; passion; excitement. Usage: {Emotion}, {Feeling}, {Agitation}. Feeling is the weaker term, and may be of the body or the mind. Emotion is of the mind alone, being the excited action of some inward susceptibility or feeling; as, an emotion of pity, terror, etc. Agitation may the bodily or mental, and usually arises in the latter case from a vehement struggle between contending desires or emotions. See {Passion}. ``Agitations have but one character, viz., that of violence; emotions vary with the objects that awaken them. There are emotions either of tenderness or anger, either gentle or strong, either painful or pleasing.'' --Crabb.