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sentence Definition

sen·tence (sent′'ns)

noun

    1. a decision or judgment, as of a court; esp., the determination by a court of the punishment of a convicted person
    2. the punishment itself
  2. Gram. a word or a group of syntactically related words that states, asks, commands, or exclaims something; conventional unit of connected speech or writing, usually containing a subject and a predicate: in writing, a sentence begins with a capital letter and concludes with an end mark (period, question mark, etc.), and in speech a sentence begins following a silence and concludes with any of various final pitches and a terminal juncture
  3. Archaic a short moral saying; maxim
  4. Music period

Etymology: OFr < L sententia, way of thinking, opinion, sentiment, prob. for sentientia < sentiens, prp. of sentire, to feel, sense

transitive verb -·tenced, -·tenc·ing

to pronounce judgment or punishment upon (a convicted person); condemn (to a specified punishment)

sentence Related Forms
sen·ten′·tial (sen ten′s̸həl) adjective
sentence Synonyms

sentence

n.

  1. A pronounced judgment

    judgment, edict, dictum, decree, order, doom, determination, decision, pronouncement, considered opinion, censure, penalty, condemnation; see also judgment 3, punishment, verdict.

  2. An expressed thought

    Kinds of sentences, sense 2, include: simple, complex, compound, compound-complex, kernel, transformed, declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory, statement, question, command, exclamation.

sentence Synonyms

sentence

v.

pronounce judgment, adjudge, adjudicate, send up, confine, impound, incarcerate, jail, judge, doom, send to prison, send up the river*; see also condemn 1, convict, imprison, punish.

sentence Law Definition

n

The pronouncement of punishment by a court following a criminal defendant having been found guilty of a crime.

v

 The handing down of a term of punishment by a court. 
cumulative sentences
See consecutive sentences.
concurrent sentences
Two or more periods of incarceration time that are to be served simultaneously. Concurrent sentences have the effect of being a single period of confinement, with the longer one being the limit; for example, a person sentenced to serve concurrent sentences of ten and twelve years concurrently will serve a maximum of twelve years.
conditional discharge sentence
The person is given no confinement, as long as she performs or does not perform certain specified acts. Failure to follow sentencing provisions may result in confinement after a hearing. See also probation.
consecutive sentences
Two or more periods of incarceration time that are to be served in succession. Consecutive sentences have the effect of being the sum of the periods of confinement named, so a person sentenced to serve consecutive sentences of ten and twelve years will serve a maximum of twenty-two years.
deferred sentence
A sentence that will not be imposed unless the defendant fails to fulfill the conditions of probation.
determinate sentence
A sentence of confinement for a specific length of time rather than for an unspecified period.
extended sentence
An infliction of a more severe period of confinement than is normal for an offense because the perpetrator is a repeat or habitual offender, or where there is a perception that the offender represents a continuing danger to society.
indeterminate sentence
A sentence of an unspecified duration, such as from 10 to 25 years, or one that a parole board can reduce after the statutory minimum has been served.
mandatory sentence
A sentence spelled out by law and over which the judge has no discretionary power to tailor to the person being sentenced.
split sentence
A sentence in which there is enough of a period of confinement to give the wrongdoer a taste of imprisonment, followed by a period of probation, with the second usually being the longer part of the term.
suspended sentence
See conditional discharge sentence.
sentence Usage Examples

Object

  • prisoner: Eight other European countries only ban some sentenced prisoners from voting.

Converse of object

  • suspend: He received a two year suspended sentence in April 1998 for inciting racial hatred.
  • serve: The play was also delivered to youths serving a custodial sentence in a Regional Secure Unit.
  • impose: Agreeing, the judge imposed the heaviest possible sentence.
  • pronounce: Bradshaw presided over the King's trial and pronounced the sentence of death.
  • pass: No need, you've passed sentence on " Shauny's " career already; off to City you go Shauny boy.. .

Adjective modifier

  • custodial: The play was also delivered to youths serving a custodial sentence in a Regional Secure Unit.
  • mandatory: Murder, for which there was a mandatory death sentence?
  • non-custodial: We will reduce the number of prisoners with more non-custodial sentences.
  • maximum: The maximum sentence in a Crown Court is two years imprisonment or a fine or both.
  • suspended: Griffin then earned a two-year suspended prison sentence for his sick views on the Holocaust.
  • five-year: Those found guilty of harassment now face a maximum five-year jail sentence.

Noun used with modifier

  • jail: Supply will remain an offense which could result in a jail sentence.
  • prison: Franklin, facing a long prison sentence, agreed.
  • death: The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where methanol toxicity is.

Preposition: of

  • imprisonment: SENTENCE A sentence of imprisonment or Youth Custody for a term not exceeding six months.
  • condemnation: The second rebuked the first, saying, " Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
  • paragraph: Accordingly, the Tribunal's reasons should be varied by the omission of the last three sentences of paragraph 37.
  • detention: SENTENCE A sentence of detention for a term not exceeding six months passed under either of those provisions.

Preposition: for

  • manslaughter: The biggest worry for me is the huge divergence between the sentence for murder and the sentence for manslaughter.
sentence Quotes

All my life I've beenworking on the worköevery canvas a sentence or paragraph of it. Each picture is onlyan approximation of what I want.

—Motherwell, Robert

The declared meaning of a spoken sentence is only its overcoat, and the real meaning lies underneath its scarves and buttons.

—Carey, Peter

Never forget that if you don't hit a newspaper reader between the eyes with your first sentence, there is no need of writing a second one.

—Brisbane, Arthur

Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves.Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.

—Charlton, Sir Bobby (Robert)

The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, And wretches hang that jury-men may dine.

—Pope, Alexander

The most important single thing in publishing is the English sentence, and the editor who cannot contemplate it again and again with a sense of wonder has not yet gained respect for the complexity of learning.

—Jovanovich,William

Talking of the Comedy of 'The Rehearsal', he said 'It has not enough wit to keep it sweet.' This was easy;öhe therefore caught himself, and pronounced a more rounded sentence; 'It hasnot vitalityenoughtopreserve it from putrefaction.'

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric isgoverned by gravity.

—Moore, Marianne Craig

'No, no!'said the Queen.'Sentence firstöverdict afterwards.'

—Dodgson

A sentence is a sound in itself on which sounds called words may be strung.

—Frost, Robert Lee

The criterion which we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability.We say that a sentence isfactually significant to any given person, if, and only if, he knows how to 44 verify the proposition which it purports to express ö that is, if he knows what observations would lead him, under certain conditions, to accept the proposition as being true, or reject it as being false.

—Ayer, SirAlfred Jules

With sixty staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and definite hardening of the paragraphs.

—Thurber,James Grover

Whatever his private behavior, the man and his work existed in different realms. Mencken's defects were commonplace; his virtues were not. So wonderfully uninhibited was his style that even a single sentence in a routine article proclaimed its begetter.

—Meyer, Karl Ernest