feel

The term feel refers to the capacity to perceive via touch and to experience affective states. It encompasses sensory perception and subjective experience; includes tactile sensations and emotional responses. The word is both a verb and a noun.

In sensory terms, to feel something means to perceive contact, texture, temperature, and pressure through mechanoreceptors and thermoreceptors; signals travel via peripheral nerves to the somatosensory cortex. Proprioception, the sense of body position, and kinesthesia are closely related to feel.

In emotional terms, feel denotes subjective emotional states or moods; feelings range from joy to anxiety. The phrase "to feel" often expresses an internal appraisal or belief (e.g., "I feel this is right"). People describe atmospheres with phrases like "the room has a warm feel" or "the film has a somber feel." "Feeling" also refers to the conscious experience of emotion.

In linguistics and psychology, feel is considered an experiential verb and is used to convey subjective experience rather than objective fact. In design and UX, "feel" describes the perceived experience or tactile feedback of a product, often summarized as its "feel" or "feel of the interface."

See also: qualia, somatosensation, affect, emotion.